QuiteRSS – A Clean & Effective Standalone RSS Reader

It’s a shame that Google Reader is being retired soon, but it’s also a good time to realize that there are (and always have been) some incredibly viable alternatives to the service. I’d be lying if I said that I thought Google Reader was not the best web-based RSS feed reader available, but there are throngs of standalone RSS applications out there for your desktop or laptop.

If you’re being forced to look for a new solution to reading your RSS feeds, consider one of these! Dependency on the browser is something that really irks me about certain web-based services, and I’m pretty surprised that Google Reader itself never offered a desktop version of their RSS reader. With that in consideration, I’d like to show you one of my favorite RSS feed readers that runs separate from the browser.

QuiteRSS

Before even downloading QuiteRSS, there are several notable perks that should definitely be taken into consideration:

• It’s run on Qt.
• It’s cross-platform compatible.
• It’s completely open source.

On top of that, it’s got one of the most clean and elegant interfaces I’ve seen on an RSS reader. QuiteRSS is packed with quality features that you’d expect and require from a reader, but let’s set up a feed first and run through the motions just to show you easy working with this application really is.

Adding the MakeUseOf RSS feed is as simple as copying the feed’s URL and clicking Add. It will automatically be pasted within the field.

From here, all recent items will be displayed.

Now is a good time to note the Update Feed and Update All options in the toolbar. Although you are getting the freshest set of news when you first load a feed, these two buttons will respectively refresh a single RSS feed or refresh every RSS feed that you’ve run through QuiteRSS.

To the right of these options is a button to toggle the loading of images. If you’d prefer just news without pictures, clicking this button will do just that. Clicking it again will re-enable the loading of images in your feeds.

Clicking on a link in one of the RSS feed entries will load the URL within QuiteRSS’s Webkit browser. It is very smooth and I’ve had very few issues with rendering.

In the row above the entries, you’ll see icons that allow you to mark items as read, mark an entire feed as read, star or tag an item, share an item to Facebook, Evernote, and other services, filter news by status (unread, starred), and delete items.

Beneath the View menu, you’re able to select between various different application themes. These range from default “system” types to a few colors: green, orange, purple, pink, and gray. Above is an example of the System2 style. The difference is very subtle, but customization is important.

QuiteRSS’s options are extremely deep.

An application like an RSS reader is the type you want to keep active and open most of the time. That being said, it’s great that QuiteRSS works well with the Windows system tray. You’re able to customize how often it’s put in the tray and what your tray icon appears like. It’s convenient to be able to just peek into your tray and see the unread count for your feeds.

While QuiteRSS does offer a very quality built-in browser, make note that you’re completely able to use any external browser with the application.

Gmail has taught me how incredibly important labels can be, and if you’re a real RSS freak you know that organizing your feeds is a chore worth completing. You’re able to set up any amount of additional labels, use a custom icon, and change the text or background color of the row for entries belonging to a particular label.

Last to mention, but certainly not least, is an incredibly extensive list of keyboard shortcutsthat QuiteRSS makes available to the user. Several defaults are set, but you can set a shortcut for anything. Marking feeds as read, starring items, setting labels, zooming, importing and exporting feeds, and opening an item in your external browser are just some of the things you can assign to a hotkey.

The QuiteRSS RSS feed reader offers nothing breathtaking or new to the world of standalone RSS readers, but it is executed properly. It is a reader worth checking out if powerful features and a quiet, clean design are high on your list of requirements.  Do you know of a better standalone reader or want to let me know what you think of QuiteRSS? Drop us a comment below.

Read More

3 Fun Tools To Get More Out of Your Webcam

To be honest, I never understood the big fuss over webcams and video chatting. Sure, it’s nice to chat face to face every once in a while, especially when you haven’t seen your significant other or family members for long periods of time, but other than that, I’ve always thought webcams weren’t a justified purchase. Until I learned you can use webcams for more than just chatting.

Of course, if you enjoy video chatting with your friends every day, all the more power to you. I wouldn’t do it because I don’t see much gain out of it. However, whether you use your webcam for simple hangouts or you’d rather find some other uses for it, this article is sure to have some great tools for you.

99colors

The 99colors webcam tool turns your webcam into a one-stop-shop for taking snapshots, applying filter effects, and then sharing it with the people you care about. Perhaps the best part of 99colors is that it’s entirely web-based so there are no programs or apps that you need to download. Just fire up your browser and you’re good to go.

The 99colors website starts you off with a blank canvas. With a single click, you can take snapshots from your webcam; those snapshots will pile up on your blank canvas and you can quickly switch between them as you edit. The site provides dozens of filter effects that you can use to touch up your photos.

When you’re done, you can either upload your photos to the public 99colors gallery OR you can upload them straight to Facebook. If you’re the kind of person who loves taking self-shots and sharing them with your Facebook friends, you should definitely try it out.

iSpy Connect

The iSpy Connect webcam tool turns your webcam from an everyday social tool into a security guardian. Just like how many buildings have security cameras, you can set up your webcam to act as a 24/7 surveillance sentry over your home. It’s actually pretty easy to set up and the potential gains are immeasurable.

While running iSpy Connect, your computer will basically treat your webcam as a surveillance camera. It runs at any frame rate (10 FPS by default) and saves the footage to your hard drive. There’s a cool alert feature that notifies you whenever the camera spots suspicious movement, which could indicate burglary at night as an example.

iSpy Connect is entirely free for you to use. However, if you purchase a license, you’ll unlock some cool features like secured remote access (able to control your cameras from another computer) and instant notifications through SMS, MMS, and email. The licensing starts at $7.95 per month.

For a more complete overview of this webcam tool, check out Matt’s iSpy Connect review. iSpy Connect works on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8.

KeyLemon

KeyLemon allows you to use your webcam as a way of password protecting your computer and your data with facial recognition. Sounds like something straight out of a near-futuristic movie, right? Well, with KeyLemon, the future is closer than you think.

The essence of this program comes down to this: instead of typing in passwords all the time, you can create a facial recognition model and use that to log into sensitive accounts or what have you. The most basic use, of course, is to use your face to unlock your Windows account, but KeyLemon also works as a password manager for sites like Facebook and Twitter.

KeyLemon is available for free with limited features; namely, Windows login and LemonDay plugin (a tool that you can use to track the evolution of your face over time). With a Bronze license ($19.95), you can automatically lock your computer when you step away. With a Gold license ($39.95), you get access to features that secretly snapshot intruders, set different security levels, and advanced algorithms that prevent people from spoofing your face.

KeyLemon works on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8.

Conclusion

As you can see, webcams are more than just webcams. Use them to take beautiful snapshots of yourself, keep your home secure and aware of unwanted intruders, or lock your computer so that no one but you can use it. If you just want to video chat, that’s fine too, but if you want to get more out of your webcam, try the services above.

Do you know any other webcam tools or interesting ways to wring out more value from your webcam? Please share them with us in the comments. I can’t wait to see what you readers will suggest.

Read More

Minesweeper: Restoring The Classic Windows Games In Windows 8

Bring the default games in Windows 8 back to the desktop. If Metro-style, full screen apps aren’t what you want when you play Solitaire, Minesweeper or Free Cell, you’re probably disappointed with Windows 8-only fullscreen versions of these games are offered in Microsoft’s latest operating system.

So these games, which have more or less been the same since Windows 3.1, are not included by default in Windows 8– and the versions you can get all run in the Metro user interface. Sure, they offer new features – the new Minesweeper, for example, offers daily challenges and an adventure mode – but some purists prefer their simple, desktop-based classics. If that includes you, keep reading.

I’ve shown you how to replace the terrible Windows 7 games with the classic XP ones, and this tutorial is similar to that one, except I’ll outline how to grab the games both from an existing Windows XP install and a Windows XP CD. I assume most people don’t have access to a working version of XP anymore.

Let’s get to work…so we can distract ourselves.

From An XP Install

If you have access to a computer with Windows XP installed (or a VirtualBox install of Windows XP) the process will be easy for you. Fire up XP and open Windows Explorer, then head to “C:\Windows\System32″. Do not change any files in this folder: you’ll break things. We’re just here to copy some files. They’re called:

• cards.dll
• freecell.exe
• mshearts.exe
• sol.exe
• spider.exe
• winmine.exe

Copy – do not move – these files to a single folder, which you can transfer them to your Windows 8 computer however you like. USB, emailing yourself – it doesn’t matter.

These games will all work fine in Windows 8, so feel free to put this folder wherever you like on your Windows 8 computer. You can even right-click one of the games and pin it to the taskbar:

Enjoy, and remember: MakeUseOf is not liable for any productivity losses directly resulting from these games. Use responsibly.

From an XP Install Disk

Of course, you probably do not have a computer with Windows XP handy. It’s possible to grab the old games from a Windows XP CD, but it’s a little more complicated – and involves the command line.

Don’t panic: it’s not as hard as it sounds. Let’s do this together now.

Insert your Windows XP CD into your Windows 8 computer, then open Windows Explorer. Open the “i386″ folder – we’re going to find some files here. They’re similar to the files above, but named in all caps and ending with an underscore instead of the last letter. The files are:

• CARDS.DL_
• FREECELL.EX_
• MSHEARTS.EX_
• SOL.EX_
• SPIDER.EX_
• WINMINE.EX_

You can quickly find any of these files by searching.

Copy these files to a folder on your desktop – in this tutorial I’ll call it “oldgames”. Once you’ve got them all open the Command Prompt – you can find it by clicking the Search charm and typing “Command”.

To begin, type:

cd Desktop\oldgames

Then hit “Enter”. This will bring the Command Prompt to your oldgames folder. Now we need to extract the games. Let’s start with CARDS.DL_.

expand CARDS.DL_ cards.dll

To explain: the word “expand” tells the prompt what you want to do: expand a file. The word “CARDS.DL_” tells the prompt which file you want to expand. The last word, “cards.dll”, tells the prompt what you want the expanded file to be called. Shortcut: hit the “Tab” button after typing the first few letters of an existing file – the prompt will figure out which file you want.

The above command cannot create an .EXE file, so we’re going to need to cheat for the rest of the files. Let’s start with Freecell:

expand FREECELL.EX_ freecell

This command will create a file called “freecell”. Simply rename that file by right-clicking it, then add “.exe” to the end – “freecell.exe”. Assuming you’ve already extracted cards.dll you’ll have a working version of the game:

Repeat the process for the other games – once you’re done, feel free to delete all the files that end with an underscore (that is, this: ” _” ). You now have a folder full of your favorites:

Right-click any of these files and click “Pin to Taskbar” if you want quick access to them. They’ll be at the bottom of the screen every time you’re in desktop mode.

Conclusion

So you’ve now got your favorite old games from Windows XP working in Windows 8. I’m not sure why Microsoft doesn’t offer these on their site somewhere – it would have saved me some time in writing this, and you some time in finding the files.

I suppose they want fans of the games to get used to Metro – to learn how to use it. Microsoft has a history of using games to teach people user interface principles: Solitaire was initially included in Windows to teach people how to click and drag, for example. So these games are once again playing the role of teacher.

Maybe you don’t want to learn, however – maybe you like the way things worked before. At least it’s possible to do things your way with some tweaking: you can use Classic Shell to add a start menu to the Windows 8 desktop or add Aero effects to Windows 8 with free tools. Check out all of our Windows 8 articles for more tips like that.

What else are you doing to make Windows 8 comfortable? Let me know in the comments below, or simply share your top scores in Minesweeper.

Read More

How To Tweak The Windows And Office Ribbon Menu

That pesky Ribbon Menu.

Ever since its introduction in Office 2007, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with it. I much preferred the Office 2000/2003 method of “hiding” tools that you don’t use often – and I don’t think I’m alone in the preference. I also don’t like being “shouted” at.

Similarly, I think it’s fair to say that I was disappointed to see the Ribbon Menu incorporated into the Windows 8 pre-release versions. Although there might be some benefit to having all of the controls where they can be quickly and easily accessed, there are plenty of reasons not to do this. For instance, you wouldn’t leave a self-destruct button on the outside of a car, would you? Someone might accidentally knock it.

That might be an extreme comparison but let’s be serious for a moment – we’re talking about user data here, files and folders that you have created or relied on. Making tools openly available that can change your files irreparably is pretty risky.

Fortunately there are a few tweaks that can be applied to the Ribbon Menu in Office and in Windows 8 that can improve the situation somewhat.

Tone Down the Office Ribbon Menu

While it might not be so bad in Windows 8, the Office 2013 Ribbon Menu is rather… aggressive. The reason for this is that for some reason, Microsoft have opted to head each tab on the menu in capitals.

Fortunately, this can be easily resolved. If you want to rid Microsoft Office 2013 of capitalised menu tabs, right click a tab and select Customize the Ribbon…;  from here, in the right pane ensure that Main Tabs is selected beneath Customize the Ribbon and right click the heading you want to change, selecting Rename.

All you need to do is position the cursor at the end of the tab name and tap the space bar, then click OK to close. This will force the Ribbon Menu to display tab headings in normal case.

Customizing the Ribbon

There are various ways in which you can persuade the Ribbon Menu to work more efficiently for you.

For instance, in Office 2010 and 2013 you can add shortcuts, or even create your own tab. Adding a tab in Office 2010 is quick and easy. Right-click on the menu and select Customize the Ribbon, and in the right-pane select New Tab (you might like to rename it). You can then populate the ribbon with commands chosen from the left pane, selecting them and clicking Add >> to move them across. Note that individual commands will need to be added to groups, so use the New Group button to create this first.

In Office if you prefer to revert back to the basic Ribbon Menu look, you can use the Reset > Reset all customization options in the Customize the Menu screen to restore back to “factory” settings.

In Windows 8, manual customization of the Ribbon Menu isn’t possible. Your best bet is to leave it permanently minimised.

Using Ribbon Disabler

If this isn’t enough, however, you can disable the Windows 8 ribbon completely with Ribbon Disabler, from WinAero.com.

This small download will require unzipping to extract the Ribbon disabler2.exe file. You will then need to run it, accepting the UAC message. Click Disable Ribbon Explorer to rid Windows 8 of the Ribbon Menu – note that the effect isn’t universal, as Microsoft Paint will retain its menu.

Ribbon Disabler will undo the Ribbon Menu enhancement on Windows 8, resulting in a Windows Explorer that is almost identical to that found in Windows 7.

Conclusion: Don’t Put Up With Unnecessary “Enhancements”

In an age where Microsoft appears to be moving away from desktop computing (certainly as far as domestic users are concerned) it seems odd that they should be “enhancing” Windows with the controversial Ribbon Menu. When was the last time you heard someone bemoan the fact that Office 2013 had a user interface feature that wasn’t present in the rest of Windows?

Fortunately, Windows is ripe for reconfiguring, and thanks to free tools such as Ribbon Disabler and useful hacks to tweak the menu (and deal with other irritating niggles), we can continue using Windows 8, and Office 2010 and 2013 without being forced to accept what Microsoft considers to be an improvement.

Read More

How To Tweak The Windows And Office Ribbon Menu

That pesky Ribbon Menu.

Ever since its introduction in Office 2007, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with it. I much preferred the Office 2000/2003 method of “hiding” tools that you don’t use often – and I don’t think I’m alone in the preference. I also don’t like being “shouted” at.

Similarly, I think it’s fair to say that I was disappointed to see the Ribbon Menu incorporated into the Windows 8 pre-release versions. Although there might be some benefit to having all of the controls where they can be quickly and easily accessed, there are plenty of reasons not to do this. For instance, you wouldn’t leave a self-destruct button on the outside of a car, would you? Someone might accidentally knock it.

That might be an extreme comparison but let’s be serious for a moment – we’re talking about user data here, files and folders that you have created or relied on. Making tools openly available that can change your files irreparably is pretty risky.

Fortunately there are a few tweaks that can be applied to the Ribbon Menu in Office and in Windows 8 that can improve the situation somewhat.

Tone Down the Office Ribbon Menu

While it might not be so bad in Windows 8, the Office 2013 Ribbon Menu is rather… aggressive. The reason for this is that for some reason, Microsoft have opted to head each tab on the menu in capitals.

Fortunately, this can be easily resolved. If you want to rid Microsoft Office 2013 of capitalised menu tabs, right click a tab and select Customize the Ribbon…;  from here, in the right pane ensure that Main Tabs is selected beneath Customize the Ribbon and right click the heading you want to change, selecting Rename.

All you need to do is position the cursor at the end of the tab name and tap the space bar, then click OK to close. This will force the Ribbon Menu to display tab headings in normal case.

Customizing the Ribbon

There are various ways in which you can persuade the Ribbon Menu to work more efficiently for you.

For instance, in Office 2010 and 2013 you can add shortcuts, or even create your own tab. Adding a tab in Office 2010 is quick and easy. Right-click on the menu and select Customize the Ribbon, and in the right-pane select New Tab (you might like to rename it). You can then populate the ribbon with commands chosen from the left pane, selecting them and clicking Add >> to move them across. Note that individual commands will need to be added to groups, so use the New Group button to create this first.

In Office if you prefer to revert back to the basic Ribbon Menu look, you can use the Reset > Reset all customization options in the Customize the Menu screen to restore back to “factory” settings.

In Windows 8, manual customization of the Ribbon Menu isn’t possible. Your best bet is to leave it permanently minimised.

Using Ribbon Disabler

If this isn’t enough, however, you can disable the Windows 8 ribbon completely with Ribbon Disabler, from WinAero.com.

This small download will require unzipping to extract the Ribbon disabler2.exe file. You will then need to run it, accepting the UAC message. Click Disable Ribbon Explorer to rid Windows 8 of the Ribbon Menu – note that the effect isn’t universal, as Microsoft Paint will retain its menu.

Ribbon Disabler will undo the Ribbon Menu enhancement on Windows 8, resulting in a Windows Explorer that is almost identical to that found in Windows 7.

Conclusion: Don’t Put Up With Unnecessary “Enhancements”

In an age where Microsoft appears to be moving away from desktop computing (certainly as far as domestic users are concerned) it seems odd that they should be “enhancing” Windows with the controversial Ribbon Menu. When was the last time you heard someone bemoan the fact that Office 2013 had a user interface feature that wasn’t present in the rest of Windows?

Fortunately, Windows is ripe for reconfiguring, and thanks to free tools such as Ribbon Disabler and useful hacks to tweak the menu (and deal with other irritating niggles), we can continue using Windows 8, and Office 2010 and 2013 without being forced to accept what Microsoft considers to be an improvement.

Read More

How To Tweak The Windows And Office Ribbon Menu

That pesky Ribbon Menu.

Ever since its introduction in Office 2007, I’ve been struggling to come to terms with it. I much preferred the Office 2000/2003 method of “hiding” tools that you don’t use often – and I don’t think I’m alone in the preference. I also don’t like being “shouted” at.

Similarly, I think it’s fair to say that I was disappointed to see the Ribbon Menu incorporated into the Windows 8 pre-release versions. Although there might be some benefit to having all of the controls where they can be quickly and easily accessed, there are plenty of reasons not to do this. For instance, you wouldn’t leave a self-destruct button on the outside of a car, would you? Someone might accidentally knock it.

That might be an extreme comparison but let’s be serious for a moment – we’re talking about user data here, files and folders that you have created or relied on. Making tools openly available that can change your files irreparably is pretty risky.

Fortunately there are a few tweaks that can be applied to the Ribbon Menu in Office and in Windows 8 that can improve the situation somewhat.

Tone Down the Office Ribbon Menu

While it might not be so bad in Windows 8, the Office 2013 Ribbon Menu is rather… aggressive. The reason for this is that for some reason, Microsoft have opted to head each tab on the menu in capitals.

Read More

Make Your File Context Menu More Useful With FileMenu Tools

As Chris recently described, Windows has its fair share of annoyances. By far, one of those annoyances that bugs me the most is the file right-click context menu. It’s a beast that seems to change and morph at will. It sometimes offers what you need, but most of the time it doesn’t.

The right-click menu is also probably the one area of Windows that has the potential to offer a lot of productivity. Instead of hunting around for commands, or searching through the start menu for where that application was installed, the right-click gives you lightning-fast access to everything in seconds. If you think about it, other than things likekeyboard shortcuts and phrase-expanding, the right-click context menu is really the time-saving tool of choice.

You can change your right-click context menu by editing the registry, or using tools that will help you tweak it, but in all honesty, there is nothing as useful or as effective to do so thanFileMenu Tools.

The Annoying Right-Click Context Menu

I don’t know why Microsoft made the right-click context so complicated to manipulate, or why it seems so fluid and every-changing. Depending on the file type you click it, the context menu changes (which of course is the point of “context”), but there are many times when the context that Windows assumes is not always the context that you want.

Before you download and install FileMenu Tools, your right-click context menu many look something like this.

As you can see, for an HTML file, it gives me the option to open with the browsers I have installed, or even Notepad or Word – but what about all of the other apps I have installed that can open an HTML file? I’ve installed a few WYSIWYG page editors that I’d like to use, and a list of other applications that can open HTML files, so this list feels a bit limited. The same can be said for the “Send to” menu and the other items on the context menu.

These can be edited, but it’s not something that just any user can do in a few simple clicks – for that, you’ll want to install FileMenu Tools. It’s a free app, but I should point out that since it’s free, it does attempt to install a few advertising-style apps. Keep a close eye and make sure to click “Skip” and not “Next“!

Another window to watch for is the “Special Offer” step. Don’t use “Quick” – it’ll install the Delta toolbar in your browser.  Instead click on “Advanced” and uncheck all of the boxes (unless you want the toolbar of course).

Once you’re done, FileMenu Tools will be installed and active on your system. Now, you’re ready to start customizing your FileMenu items at will. What this tool does is gives you the ability to modify the “Send To” menu, and also build up a customized menu that will come under “FileMenu Tools” in the context menu. This customized area gives you you’re on personal space in the context menu to place anything you want.

To customize the Send To menu list, just click on the “Send To” Menu tab.

Then you can add new items to the list and tie it to any executable on your computer. All you need to do is browse to the exe file and assign that file as the target.

The ability to customize the Send To menu is cool, but the real power of this tool is that it adds the FileMenu Tools option to the right-click context menu. This is your own personal playground.

Not only can you add any program, command, batch job or anything else you want to this menu, but the FileTools Menu comes preloaded with a whole bunch of really useful tools, not the least of which is the “Shred Files” tool that’ll securely delete the file that you’ve right-clicked. You can choose from four deletion methods to ensure that once you delete that file, it’ll never be recovered again.

Other tools available that come along with the FileMenu Tools install are things like duplicating files, altering the creation, last write and last access time stamps of the file, splitting the file, creating a symbolic link for the file, and more.

FileMenu Tools is one utility that I’ve installed and kept on my system for the long-haul, because it actually removed one of the worst annoyances I’ve had with Windows for a long time. I use the FileMenu Tools menu more than any other area of the right-click context menu, and I’m sure you will too.

Have you ever used FileMenu Tools? Does the right-click context menu annoy you too? Share your own solutions and tips on creative ways to use FileMenu Tools in the comments area below.

Read More

Create a More Organized & Productive Workspace With Q-Dir [Windows]

I have to be completely honest here, I’ve never been completely happy with Windows File Explorer. I think the last time I actually liked the graphical layout of a Windows file system was Windows 3.1. Seriously.

What I liked about it was how accessible everything was on a single screen. Everything was in well-organized squares of data, so productivity was better in my opinion. Sure, these days we have alt-tab or win-tab, but it’s still not as seamless and simple as that good old grid of data.

To find a more productive file manager solution, I’ve explored MakeUseOf and solutions that have been offered in the past like the two alternative file managers Jessica wrote about, or Craig’s approach with integrating Windows Explorer and Chrome. I gave Multi-Commander a try for myself, and liked it – even though it turned out to be a little bit too complex for my taste.

The truth is, all I really want is something like Window’s standard File Explorer, but with more….well, more squares.  I want to see more folders and more files in a smaller space. So, I have to say I was pretty excited to stumble across Q-Dir recently.

A More Productive File Explorer

When you first go to download Q-Dir from the developer’s website, don’t be fooled into thinking this is amateur software. The website itself betrays the true value of this application. Most of the apps offered by this developer are simple – tools that keep your PC from sleeping, a PC-stress test tool, and even a simple app that creates animated ants on your desktop.

Yup – the low-key stuff, until you get to Q-dir. There’s nothing low-key about it. It offers exactly the design that I’ve wanted in Windows Explorer. When you first launch the File Explorer alternative, you’ll see four panes that you can use individually to explore to specific folders on your PC.

Here’s the thing – it’s a lot more than a four-pane file explorer application. You can basically choose from a list of layouts that work best for you. Set up two panes on the left and one large one on the right. Place two small on the top and a large one on the bottom. Basically – customize the layout of miniature file explorer windows in a way that works best for how you plan to use them. You can also choose how the panes display folder contents versus the file explorer – basically one file explorer for each window, or one file explorer that controls all of the panes.

The one file explorer is my favorite, because it gives you way more flexibility in a smaller space. All you do is select the pane where you want the folder contents to be displayed, click on the folder in the file explorer pane, and the contents of that folder will be displayed in the smaller pane. For example, below I have the “My Documents” folder displayed in the top left pane, and the Desktop contents displayed in the top right pane.

You may be wondering – what’s the point? Well, if you think about how you work, this actually makes a lot of sense. When I write for a particular client, I store account details for that work in a secure folder on my external hard drive. I store the article templates I use in the My Documents folder on my PC. I may track invoicing data for that client in a special “budget” folder elsewhere on my PC. Well, now whenever I work for this client, I can have a Q-Dir setup saved that opens all of these folders at once – everything I need to work for this client right at my fingertips.

Each individual pane also lets you navigate to any new folder on your PC using a quick dropdown box – so you aren’t tied down to just the folder you click on from the file explorer pane.

From within individual panes, you can also send the contents of the folder in your current pane, to any other pane. All you do is right click the folder and then identify the target pane where you want to send those contents. So, even though you might have a fixed, custom template of folders you start with, the application is flexible enough so that you can change things up however you need to while you’re working.

Each individual pane has its own set of file command icons like cut, copy, and delete right at the bottom bar of each pane. This is great for anyone that prefers using the mouse for these things rather than the keyboard. It’s there if you want it.

My favorite thing about Q-Dir is the fact that once you have a layout that works for a particular task or project, you can save that setup to a .qdr file. The next time you need to work on that project, just open up Q-Dir, open the saved .qdr file, and there you have the exact layout that you know will be the most productive for the work you have to do. Forget about opening up multiple file explorer windows and navigating to the folder locations that you keep forgetting. Nope – open the saved format file and that’s it – it’s all right at your fingertips.

Another cool feature worth mentioning is color-coding. This isn’t enabled by default, but I really like it, so I’ve turned it on. You just go to options, click on the “Colors” tab, and select the “Use Color-Filter” checkbox. This applies a particular color code as defined in this window (which you can change) to individual file types. So pictures will be purple, audio files red, and so on.

This tells you at a quick glance what the file format is of a particular file. It’s a very easy way to visually organize files without having to sort them out in the window.

As you can see, Q-Dir is a lot more functional and useful than you might originally think. It’s easily one of the best file explorer alternatives that I’ve tried in a long time, and one that I continue to use simply because of how much more productive it’s helped me become.

I highly recommend it, and would like to know what you think of this file explorer alternative too. Does it help improve your productivity? Share your feedback and views in the comments section below.

Read More