Evaluating Directory Opus, Issues Right Out of the Box

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Here are my thoughts and issues I've found after evaluating Directory Opus for about 24 hours:

#1 I've been looking for replacement to the Windows default File Explorer mainly because of the poor way it handles tabs. You can't just pull them out like you can with Chrome and pull others in. This is where Directory Opus shines and is why I decided to try it. The tabbing works great! The one thing that could be improved though is rounding out the corners of the tabs themselves, so they look more modern like what's in Windows 11 File Explorer.

#2 There is no margin to the left of the list like in File Explorer. This makes it impossible to select files by click and dragging a bounding box around them. For someone who's been selecting files like this for years, how am I going to do it now in Directory Opus? Do I need to make some kind of blank column on the left? or perhaps is there a margin setting I missed?

#3 Clicking a folder shortcut opens a new tab or Opus instance, unlike how I have it in File Explorer, which keeps such navigation all within the same tab. Is there an option somewhere i missed to keep shortcut navigation to the same tab?

#4 "Read/change folder" sound plays when opening Directory Opus and new tabs. This is not like File Explorer, which is silent when opening instances and tabs. It doesn't play its clicking sound when going through folders when it first opens. Hearing a pop on every open is annoying pretty quick. Can we fix that or at least separate opening into a new sound category altogether?

#5 When I click on "This PC" in the file tree, and it renames itself to "Drives". This quirky behavior doesn't exist with File Explorer. What's the purpose of that?

#6 Why am I seeing .url on my internet links? It looks like people have complained about that for years and still not resolved, without a complicated workaround. Which gets me into my next topic...

#7 When designing software that is meant to replace something else, it should be elementary that it first starts with the features/capabilities of what you are replacing, right? You can't expect to make something better and have it replace it if you don't offer an experience as similar as possible. Not only that, there should be an option of using existing File Explorer settings to pre-configure Directory Opus when first installed to make the transition easier.

I realize there are workarounds to some of these annoying issues, but hopefully better solutions will be offered in the coming releases.. or maybe they exist now? let me know.

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  • The one thing that could be improved though is rounding out the corners of the tabs themselves, so they look more modern like what's in Windows 11 File Explorer.

    Turning on Preferences / Miscellaneous / Advanced [Cosmetic]: gloss_and_gradients will give you rounded tabs, originally designed for old OS like XP through to Windows 7. Round UI elements are "modern" again, but also very old. :slight_smile: Microsoft can't make up their minds.

    In the future, we'll separate this setting out, and make it automatically round tabs on Windows 11 (with an override for people who prefer them square), as it also affects a few other things.

  • #2 There is no margin to the left of the list like in File Explorer. This makes it impossible to select files by click and dragging a bounding box around them.

    You can add a blank column there if you want, but Opus also has alternative ways to multi-select files that don't require you to aim at a narrow strip like in File Explorer.

    My preference is to set File selection / highlighting style to Full width of the Name column (under Preferences / File Display Modes / Details). This is like full-row selection but the selection box ends at the end of the Name column, allowing you to drag select starting from anywhere to the right of it. Power Mode also has various mouse selection modes you can use where you can drag-select from within the Name column itself (although I don't personally like them).

  • Clicking a folder shortcut opens a new tab or Opus instance, unlike how I have it in File Explorer, which keeps such navigation all within the same tab. Is there an option somewhere i missed to keep shortcut navigation to the same tab?

    Yes: Preferences / Launching Opus / Explorer Replacement.

    (Assuming you mean things clicked outside of Opus. Within Opus, clicking a folder or shortcut should already keep it within the current tab, unless you're configured things in an unusual way.)

  • #4 "Read/change folder" sound plays when opening Directory Opus and new tabs. This is not like File Explorer, which is silent when opening instances and tabs.

    No sounds play by default. If you configure sounds to play when reading/changing folders, opening a new tab counts as a folder read/change.

  • #5 When I click on "This PC" in the file tree, and it renames itself to "Drives". This quirky behavior doesn't exist with File Explorer. What's the purpose of that?

    Sounds like you have messed around with Preferences / Folder Tree / Contents / Start Folder Tree At. Change it back to Desktop.

  • #6 Why am I seeing .url on my internet links?

    Because those are the real filenames and Opus aims not to hide file extensions by default (other than for .lnk shortcuts, as a special case). However, we're adding an option for it fairly soon (code is already written and being tested at the moment).

  • #7 When designing software that is meant to replace something else, it should be elementary that it first starts with the features/capabilities of what you are replacing, right?

    You don't mention which features you think are missing, so I can't respond to that. If you want to request a change, please put the details in a separate thread. But also keep in mind that Opus is not File Explorer. If you want exactly the same as File Explorer then you'll only get that in File Explorer. Even then, File Explorer is constantly changing (in fairly random ways). Some of the choices in File Explorer are also bad, and you've said as much yourself, so we are not going to copy everything it does.

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Glad I didn't see that before I wrote my message. :wink:

Yeah I noticed that setting right after I wrote this. I also put the "Status Icons" column with 30 width on the left which further solved the issue.

The setting on this page is "Open external folders in a new tab". It has two states, checked or unchecked. If checked, it does exactly what it does.. shortcuts go in new tab. If uncheck, a whole new Opus instance is opened and yes, this is when clicking it within Opus. So there is no option that I can see to keep shortcut navigation contained within a single tab. Try it out. Make sure you are dealing with a true shortcut and not a symlink, as symlinks do stay contained. But creating those are more difficult, but at least it is a workaround. I'd rather Opus just match what Explorer does with them though.
Thanks for your help. Much of what I didn't like has been resolved or getting resolved. But I still think you should have a separate sound for opening/new tab, rather than including it all in read/change folder.

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There are a few - mostly visual - changes/additions I was going to suggest/request in the near future,
so I'd like to take this opportunity to request the separation of gradient effects and tab corner style in the options menu.

Hopefully not a big deal since the "rounded corners" feature itself is already there, but this little tweak would be much appreciated.

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Already coming, as mentioned above.

I'm not sure what you're doing for shortcuts to open in new windows or tabs when double-clicked within Opus. That isn't how it works by default.

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First of all: Awesome, Thx Leo.
Secondly, omg, I just realized I've read the first paragraph and must've then skipped the second. Prefect. ^^
People are funny creatures.
To avoid further silliness and redundant posts, is there a thread with a roadmap or list of things you are working on or intend to implement at some point?

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Simply copy a folder within Opus, then using the context menu paste a shortcut for it at the same location, all within Opus. Now click (or double-click in your case) on that new shortcut. Does it take you to the new folder while staying within the same tab? If so, I'd love to know how. On mine, it opens up another instance of Opus, or if I have setting in Preferences / Launching Opus / Explorer Replacement checked, it opens in a new tab.

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Yes, and that’s the default unless a key is held down while double-clicking.

(If you’ve edited the file type actions then that could also change things.)

Please start a separate thread for this if you’re still stuck with it.

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I got the problem fixed. Under LNK Shortcut File Type, I found it had Notepad++ defined as default for "Open with:". I found that strange because Notepad++ wasn't opening my shortcuts.. they were simply opening in new Opus windows. So at first I tried removing Notepad++ and put Directory Opus in there instead. That didn't fix it. Next I tried removed everything and had no application listed at all as a default opener. That did it! Don't ask me why or how that fixed it. I'm just glad the issue is behind me. Also, I have no idea how Notepad++ got to be the default opener for LNK files. Maybe the YouTuber whose templates I used had it defined. lol

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