Just Manager 0.1 alpha 54

Overview

It’s true that Windows Explorer could use some enhancements and become more functional, especially for professionals and users who manage loads of files daily. But until then, you could grab a file manager called Just Manager and test it out to see if it’s good enough for you and worth keeping. It has a tabbed interface which makes things a lot easier than having multiple windows open and alt-tabbing between them in an effort to find the correct one. You can find the rest of its features below, so keep on reading.

Installation

It’s a piece of cake to install this program, since it requires no technical skills or knowledge. The only step during throughout the whole process that matters is when you’re asked to make a normal or portable installation. Normal installation will install the product in your system and portable installation will not make any changes to the system but rather extract the core files in a folder (no strings attached) and execute the program from there whenever you need it.

Our virus scans showed no malicious items in the setup package.

Interface

The program’s buttons and icons could be bigger and have more space between them in order to make the window less crowded. However that’s not much of an issue once you get familiar with the software. There are two file panels on the center of the window (left and right), each one displaying the contents of the active tab’s folder. Speaking of tabs, you can perform all kinds of actions easier with multiple tabs open.

A command line panel is implemented as well, located on the bottom part of the window.

Pros

You can create up to 16 panels, enough to work conveniently- more than that would probably be unnecessary and do more harm than good. On the other hand, the number of tabs you can open in each panel is unlimited; you can open as many as you want.

Drag & drop is supported. It would be terrible if this feature was missing.

In addition, you can add color file filters, meaning that you can have a specific file format and directory with certain attributes highlighted and colorized. Preset color filters exist for executables, compressed, hidden and system files/folders.

An FTP client is integrated into the program for managing files remotely.

There is support for Unicode too, and the interface can be translated into several languages: Chinese Simplified, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian and Russian.

Cons

We didn’t encounter any bugs while testing the application, but the author releases updates often to fix any problems that might appear.

Alternatives

The most popular file managers are: Total Commander (paid), Far Manager (free), xplorer² (free and pro versions available), Directory Opus (paid) and Q-Dir (free). The recommended one out of those is xplorer²; the free version has lesser features than the pro, but it’s still a great file manager.

Conclusion

If you’re interested in a using a lightweight program to fulfill your file managing tasks, then give Just Manager a try. Chances are you’re going to keep it, but even if you don’t, be thankful to the author for making it a free utility and gave you the chance to use it without any limitations.