EF Commander 24.11

★ Winner of Best File Explorer in 2017.

Overview

EF Commander is a feature-rich, robust file manager for Windows that is designed to be user-friendly for both amateur and professional users. Having been in development since 1994, the program once served as a replacement for the DOS application Norton Commander, before being migrated to the Windows operating system in 1996.

Installation

At a file size of a little more than 3.5 MB, the download/installation process for EF Commander can be completed within minutes using a user-friendly wizard style setup guide. Ultimately, anyone that has ever installed a Windows program before should have no problem getting started with this software. A 64bit version is also available - you can download it here.

Interface

Although EF Commander includes adequate help documentation to familiarize you with the main features relatively easily, the interface appears to be somewhat crowded at first. Adding to the crowded appearance is the fact that most of the features are accessible via button icons, so it may take some time to learn what each one of these buttons does.

Pros

• Customizable tabbed interface makes it easy to gain full control over your files/folders
• An integrated media player provides high-quality audio/video playback, and supports multiple file formats. Including but not limited to MP3, WMA, FLAC, and WAV.
• Adjustable thumbnails make it easy to get a quick preview of images within your media library
• Lets you rename multiple files simultaneously with batch processing, and create custom renaming rules to streamline the process
• Burn CDs/DVDs from directly within the program using seamless integration with Nero Burning ROM
• Internal file viewer supports more than 30 audio/video/image formats
• Is capable of integrating with more extensive third-party media management suites like XnView and IrfanView, giving you the ability to extend compatibility to more than 400 file formats
• Built-in FTP client lets you quickly and easily upload/download content to and from a Web server, with FxP technology that allows you to conduct server-to-server transfers
• Includes an internal text/HEX editor
• Enhance the overall functionality and add new features to EF Commander using plugins, or develop your own within the open-source structure. Supports WC X, WFX, WLX,, and Winamp decode extensions.
• Lets you split files into segments and/or join multiple files together
• Supports 32-bit multithreading, making it possible to conduct several different operations, or multiple instances of the same operation (i.e. – multiple copy commands) simultaneously
• A big plus is the fact that you get free updates for life, so you only have to buy the full version once.

Cons

• While I did not encounter any problems during testing, some users report a few minor bugs when too many threads are operating at the same time - however this may be due to a lack of system resources, rather than a flaw in the program itself.

Alternatives

Notable alternatives to EF Commander include Total Commander, FreeCommander, XYplorer, Xplorer2, and of course the native Windows Explorer included with every Windows operating system. Of these alternatives, Total Commander is by far the most popular competitor.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a software that can help you view, compare, rename, and manage your files in Windows, EF Commander is definitely worth consideration. This software is mostly geared towards developers and advanced computer users that need access to more powerful features than those available in the standard Windows Explorer interface.