DOS ain't dead

At the DOS days I was a NC fan, I upgraded up to 5.5 which was latest one. Then I liked Volkov, it was so fast! Regarding NDN love its Turbo Vision interface and its features. You can try FAR too-

> I am just curious. Which file manager do people here prefer?
> In my case it is Volkov Commander 4.99
> I tried to use other file managers (and I have about 7 different file
> managers) on my disk but I always return to Volkov.
> I do not exactly know why, NDN and its derivates are much more feature rich
> but Volkov is my favourite one.

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Visit my personal blog at https://www.javiergutierrezchamorro.com

> I am just curious. Which file manager do people here prefer?
> In my case it is Volkov Commander 4.99
> I tried to use other file managers (and I have about 7 different file
> managers) on my disk but I always return to Volkov.
> I do not exactly know why, NDN and its derivates are much more feature rich
> but Volkov is my favourite one.

Volkov has its magic because it is no longer developed and has no sources. It was written by a programmer from Ukraine, probably in assembler. They are very hardworking people. It's a pity that this senseless war has started.

I still prefer Xtree Gold, by far. It is like an old friend that I've known for 35 years. I don't like the two-pane file managers, although NDN is a good and much more modern hybrid. Never like Norton or Volkov. They seemed more like shells than actual programs.

I usually use DOSZIP. If not, then I use DOS Controller. It's very small, but full-featured - great for start-up floppies.

On Windows, I usually install FAR Manager, but I generally rarely use alternative file managers. I've also played with Windows versions of DOSZIP recently. Nidud has also published WIN64 version a while ago. It's nice, but is not as featured as FAR.

On Linux, I usually install Midnight Commander, but I rarely use anything but default file manager (Thunar in XFCE) or standard GNU file management tools. But I regulary follow the development of new and smaller file managers on GitHub like vifm and nnn.

> I am just curious. Which file manager do people here prefer?

Xtree Gold all the way

Loved the shareware version so much
that after using it for just a very few days, bought the full version.

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http://glennmcc.org/

> I am just curious. Which file manager do people here prefer?

Most of the time I am using DOS Controller, Norton Commander clone by Søren Kragh:
simtelnet/msdos/fileutil/dc-sk.zip

And sometimes I am switching to FileWizard: LINK

Edit: FileWizard comes with Pascal/ASM source code: LINK

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echo g=ffff:0|debug>nul

For use on MS-DOS without LFN I am very used to using Norton Commander 4.5.

For MS-DOS with LFN I use Volkov Commander 4.99, which is faster and smaller than the previous one.

I not use Necromancer's Dos Navigator (NDN), because it uses different key combinations compared to NC to me they complicate its use a bit.

For Windows For Worgroups 3.11 I use Total Commander 6.58 and for Windows XP / 7 / etc. use Total Commander 10.51

> I am just curious. Which file manager do people here prefer?
> In my case it is Volkov Commander 4.99
+1

Hi all,

i prefer dosshell from m$dos 6.22 or pcdos.

Roberto

I like/use Directory Freedom, a lean, single-panel, file manager that was written by Gordon Haff. It's now GPL. Similar to, but with more capabilities than, a simpler fm utility published in PCMag way back when (might be the same author, can't remember). Even tho single panel, user can select target drive/directory 'on the fly' and toggle between them. A separate configuration program allows customization of features (including colors, hotkeys, file associations, etc).

Binary is still available from author's website, along with assembler source:

http://bitmasons.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/bitmason/dflyer.html

Perhaps an assembly-language programmer might even be interested in trying their hand at extending it's abilities?

- Doug

> I am just curious. Which file manager do people here prefer?
> In my case it is Volkov Commander 4.99
> I tried to use other file managers (and I have about 7 different file
> managers) on my disk but I always return to Volkov.
> I do not exactly know why, NDN and its derivates are much more feature rich
> but Volkov is my favourite one.

I got introduced to 4Dos in the early nineties, and at the same time bash on the *nix side of things, and pretty much ditched file managers after that. Some windows explorer work for more basic tasks, but that is it,

I even used 4NT for quite a while on Windows 2000/XP and I still install it on new boxes, if only for the "del /sx" command.

I keep forgetting to mention Display. I used to use that a lot (on older computers). Tons of really impressive and powerful features (e.g. graphics viewing).

I already mentioned (in an aside on one of the FreeDOS mailing lists) that my other favorites were Tutordo, DOS Controller (500 kb text editor space, wow), NDN, and Doszip. Even Morgul Player in DOS I liked. (I did have some version of Norton Commander on one PC.)

You could also use Emacs' Dired.

There was an old text editor called E14_EDIT by David Nye. He also wrote a VERY small and simplified shell in assembly (S14.ZIP ??), but I can't find a copy anymore.

There was another good one called Connect (which oddly came bundled with proprietary Borland tools).

I vaguely recall sending a copy of CP853 (mapping?) to the GVFM guy, but that's another I only barely used.

Oh, RVS was an archiver shell. I did like that for a while. (Sad that I never found the Modula-2 sources.)

... And to be included in some boot diskette, you can also use the ultralightweight file manager "Mikro Manazer" - 12 kB

http://rayer.ic.cz/download/mm.com

On my 1st PC with MSDOS and Win 3.11 I started to learn with Norton Commander 5, then CZ clone M602, then DOS Navigator.

On current working PC I use DN-OSP/NDN. I like the rich features. I use it also as text and hexa editor, often use and like programmer's calculator, use file extension association to launch external programs for viewing images, playing audio files, etc.

On old and slow computers I use mostly Volkov Commander and in some special space-tight cases the Mikro Manazer that is extraordinary by features in so small code size (fully written in assembler by Miroslav Nemecek who's still coding e.g. an interesting VGA library for Raspberry Pico)

Under Windows I use Servant Salamander, similar to Total Commander but from CZ authors. Also used FAR sometimes.

Under Linux I'm still missing a good FM for X, Double Commander is usable some way but slow and inferior to Total Commander or Salamander. In console I use Midnight Commander and NDN Linux port.

On Android Phone I use Total Commander. I had also working Midnight Commander on old rooted android console but didn't work on newer androids and I didn't find a newer version that would work.

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DOS gives me freedom to unlimited HW access.

I found an interesting project (Star Commander), unfortunately no longer developed, with source code in TP7. There is also a 32-bit beta, the one without the source code.

See:
http://sta.c64.org/sc.html