I am new to this software having only received it today but I am looking forward to many hours of use from it.
However I have immediately met quite a roadblock, I can not set Opus to be used as Explorer Replacement.
I have read the FAQs, Manuals and been scouring forum search results but I simply do not even have the relevant option to select this function, I do not have a "Launching Opus" preferences category.
If you'd like to evaluate the Pro version you can do so free of charge via Help > Licence Manager > Request Free Evaluation. Light to Pro upgrades are available for just the price difference, should you want one.
Why is that? that seems kinda stupid if you ask me. I don't have a need for the pro version except for that ONE feature and you put it behind an additional $30 paywall from the light version.
I'm not trying to be mean/not-understanding it's just that I find that ridiculous that you decided to make it so that the light version can't replace windows explorer but still charge $49 for it when the pro is $89. I don't want to spend an additional $40 for 1 feature.
People asked us to make a more simple, Light version to compete with other, cheaper file managers, and they don't have that feature either.
It's actually a very difficult thing to get right. There is no API in Windows for replacing the default file manager, unlike there is for the default web browser, image viewer, and so on. It's not a standard feature of file managers by any stretch.
We envisaged Light to work like other file managers: You run the program when you want to do things, do them, then close the window. On the other hand, Pro can stay running in the background and be triggered by things like global hotkeys, double-clicking the desktop wallpaper, and by intercepting requests to open folders in Explorer.
If you want to uninstall Opus entirely because it's not in Light, you can do that, too. To my knowledge there aren't any alternatives which offer the same thing, at any price, so it seems like you are throwing away the rest of the program because the much cheaper version (or virtually free version, for a lot of new users right now) doesn't have everything you want, even though nothing else (except Opus Pro) does either. But it's up to you.
While it's true many other file managers can't replace Explorer to the level Opus can, many of them offer some level of integration. Explorer++ for example is free and has quite a good Explorer replacement option. The program itself is not a patch on Opus though. It all depends on the level of Explorer replacement required as to whether other tools can handle it.
It's a rare case that does, but it doesn't do it very well. It is more Microsoft's fault than anyone's, since they should make doing this easy, but it is what it is. Try clicking the link to open a downloads folder from a browser like IE or Chrome, with the tool you mention. You'll see long delays, or two windows open at once, or it won't notice it already has windows open for the same folder and opens an additional one, and it doesn't select the download in the folder it only opens the folder.
I know why all of that happens, because we faced the same issues in Opus and had to find solutions for them, which we did. Every so often, Windows changes something and we have to re-visit that code to find new solutions. (We don't need to change the code much these days, but it still happens even for us and sometimes it can take days and several prototypes to investigate and invent a solution. In fact, 12.2.1 beta and 12.2.2 beta both have small improvements to the Explorer Replacement code, partly for changes in Windows 10 Anniversary Update.) There is no proper API for replacing File Explorer like there is for replacing Internet Explorer, and there are lots of ways Explorer can be launched, some of them rather complicated and undocumented.
Doing Explorer Replacement well is hard, and if you want the best you need to pay a bit more. Assuming you got Opus Light via the Humble Bundle, you can upgrade to Pro and still pay a very low total price compared to normal. If it's not worth paying for then by all means don't buy it and use Light, or even something else entirely, but we're not giving it all away for free. We have to support ourselves.
Similarly, I want to be able to Remote Desktop into both my PCs from each other, which means I end up having to buying Windows Pro. There are alternatives like VNC, but they aren't as good, so I pay for Pro. (And RDP, and maybe BitLocker, are the only extras I get from Windows Pro. Opus Pro is a much better deal since it's full of additional features you'll find useful in return for the extra cost, not just the one feature you know & care about right now. I still end up buying Windows Pro because I want RDP and nobody else can do it as well.) Other people use Windows Home. Or Linux or OS X. The thing that makes most sense will be different for everyone, but I doubt Microsoft would even reply to me if I posted on their forum telling them to give me the Windows Pro features for free. I don't know, maybe I am wrong and it is worth a try.
I think the full Pro cost is completely justified.
However I was undecided on getting it myself (as I'd only been playing with the trial for a few days). When the Humble deal popped into my inbox, it made purchasing and upgrading to Pro a no brainer. Such a well thought out product with support like this? Perfect.
That was my point, nothing does Explorer replacement as well as Opus, but at least there are alternative tools out there which offer it in some form and may or may not do what other people, including the original poster, requires.
Explorer++ is possibly abandoned now but it's portable, free and has a dedicated replace Explorer option. Although it's nowhere near perfect it does open My Computer as well as general folders, which may be all someone wants. XYPlorer is another free one, the Explorer replacement level is nowhere near as deep as Opus but it may be adequate for some users.
In this case, if you want the best Explorer replacement option around you have to pay a reasonable chunk of money for it.
