I've always used Xplorer2.... however the Vista integration is not so great. Had a very interesting adventure with directory renaming / virtualized files (which x2 is not aware of apparently). Of course, that led to my learning all about file virtualization in Vista (which is a b____h in some cases)...
Looking for a replacement that has better Vista integration though...
Okay, so I looked at some of those.
XYPlorer: No split view??!? I thought that feature was ubiquitous to explorer replacements. No good.
Windows File Explorer: Nice, simple, has split view. However, file context menu comes up blank - with default vista Aero, no wb applied. No good.
Universal Explorer: Look/Feel of a win98 app, and doesn't theme with windowblinds. It does have a split view, though it wasn't readily apparent how to enable it, and I had to move around the preview pane which took up half the screen initially. Other than that, looks promising, though as with all the others, some vista integration is still missing.
ExplorerXP: Doesn't appear to have split view. Yes, I'm demanding that way. It does use OS-Native controls apparently, which seems to be out of fashion with file managers.
I think I'm gonna have to keep looking.
Honestly? I would think about buying Universal Explorer - EXCEPT for the fact that it has not been updated since February 2004.... that falls under "dead product" category to me, and I won't pay $40 for a simple windows utility (which is what it is) when I know there will be Zero support. If it were for sale in the retail channel, it would've been on the bargain bin by now.
