Reviews of Directory Opus

1. 
   tanis424

   Reviewing 9.1.3.0 (Mar 12, 2010)

   A couple of points, firstly FTP is not single pane as insisted by emanresU deriseD. Clearly he hasn't noticed that you can ftp working in either both sides of a dual pane, in multiple listers or just in a single pane if required. You can copy directly from/to FTP sites (as long as the servers support site to site transfer).
   
   The network timeout causing the issue with Tabs is set by Windows. That's why there's an option in prefs to prevent automatic loading of network drives. Thus, neatly avoiding the delay when a network drive doesn't exist.
   
   AVI files preview fine here, along with all the other supported file formats. Clearly something isn't configured correctly on his system.
   
   His other complaints are fairly arbitrary and don't really explain why he finds some of the features clunky. The features work, and contain a myriad of options.
   
   As for anti-piracy features, they do nothing to inhibit the genuine user. A few files/folders and registry keys should have no discernible impact on a system.
2. 
   emanresU deriseD

   Reviewing 9.1.3.0 (Oct 10, 2009)

   Methinks someone is guilty of misplaced arrogance...
   
   DO is loaded with features, but as far as I'm concerned, lots of them are half-baked. Take the FTP feature; it works, but it's single-pane only, which makes it a "pane" to use. The search facility is clunky, as is the sync facility. I use DO but I still use other software for all of those other functions.
   
   The preview pane feature sounds great, but in reality it's also clunky, slow, overcomplicated (read: acquiring and configuring plugins), and generally works like hell. How many times have I tried previewing an AVI file, only to see nothing but a representation of the AVI file in hexidecimal format? I lost count.
   
   Then we have DO's other poor design features. Ever have a tab opened in DO that pointed to a network drive? What happens when the network drive becomes inaccessible for some reason? If you select that tab (or try to simply close it), DO freezes up until it times out. It's frustrating as hell, and it's unnecessary.
   
   DO is also the most rabidly anti-piracy application I have EVER seen. This damned thing CONSTANTLY litters your system with anti-piracy garbage. Folders, files, and registry keys/values that serve no purpose but to track your installation and blacklist serials are created all the time. These items are NOT removed when DO is "uninstalled". Even people like me who track installations are helpless against this, because it happens EVERY time DO runs. (P.S. I have a legitimate license for DO.)
   
   I've finally had enough and decided to remove this poorly-designed digital turd.
3. 
   uberfly

   Reviewing 9.1.3.0 (Jun 19, 2009)

   Absolutely the best. Spend some time to configure it a thousand different ways and it will work exactly as you need. Makes Total Commander look like a clunky model-t.
4. 
   anomoly

   Reviewing 9.1.3.0 (Jun 18, 2009)

   The one thing I do miss is the ability to create multiple folders at once. Other than that- not much. It takes a long minute to configure it to look and act like I like- THAT I don't miss at all. I prefer TotalCommander, as it is very easy to configure and any plugins are purely optional. TC is also portable whereas DO never will be.
5. 
   michaelkenward

   Reviewing 9.1.1.6 (Jan 6, 2009)

   Describing Directory Opus as "a complete file manager and Explorer replacement solution" is, on top of the illiterate use of the "solution" word, misleading. Yes. It does that. But a lot more too.
   
   Many software houses use "complete" to describe lesser file managers and Explorer replacements. Look no further than PowerDesk, for example.
   
   Over the years (I started off with CP/M) I have resorted to many utilities to handle various tasks – joining, splitting, renaming, viewing, "FTPing" and generally processing files.
   
   Directory Opus handles these and more.
   
   It is not cheap, but with that much power "under the hood" it might be worth it if you don't want the hassle of handling a raft of separate freeware utilities.
   
   The main drawback, and I always get jumped on when I mention it, is that the very power on offer can make the thing hard for some people to grasp.
   
   Directory Opus is a techy's delight. And it comes with a self-support forum that delivers the goods more often than not, which goes some way to making up for the complexity.
   
   "Oi'd give it foive" but for the complexity and the fact that the Help files and manuals assume rather a lot of the beginner.

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