FreeCommander 2009.02b

FreeCommander has been around a few years with regular updates over time. Of late, the developer Marek Jasinski has been devoting more time to FreeCommander XE. The original package is extremely robust as a twin-paned navigation file manager. There is tabbed browsing, but it is more subtle than with XE and can often go unnoticed. File features are shown as tiny icon buttons above the twin panes and in the menu options. Drive buttons are also shown near the file feature buttons. You need to take time to learn what each button does because it's not always easy to know right away due to their small size. Occasionally, the file manager freezes up under Windows 7, but upon restarting it remembers where you were, so this is a minor issue.

FreeCommander Key Features:

• Dual-pane file manager with horizontal or vertical panes
• Subtle tabbed interface for fast access to different folders
• Look inside archives and access files without needing to unzip
• Tree folder and file view
• File viewer
• FTP client
• Secure wipe
• Multiple file rename tool
• DOS command line
• Split files
• Comprehensive file searching including within archives
• MD5 checksum creation and verification
• Create, rename, delete, copy and move files and folders