ForkLift: Now With 2 Killer Features

ForkLiftMy biggest whine about OS X was with the Finder. It was simply too inefficient and really slowed me down, especially when working on a MacBook. I thought there was no end to my productivity woes, until I tried ForkLift.

Last month, fellow contributor Jordan Chark previewed ForkLift, where he mentioned some of its great features like dual-panes, remote file previews, and spotlight integration. But there's a new Beta available, and it comes with 2 new killer features.

ForkLift Beta 2 offers live editing. This means that you can open any remote file for editing while ForkLift works quietly in the background to update your changes to the FTP server. It really takes all the boring steps out and lets you just focus on your files. This really speeds up your workflow and will save you valuable time.

ForkLift Screenshot

When you choose an App for deletion, ForkLift now searches your computer for application support files to delete, similar to what AppDelete does. These little files consists of preferences, caches and plugins that build up over time. In my tests, ForkLift managed to find a lot of related configuration files, caches, and .plist files. Removing applications completely is just a click away.

ForkLift Delete App

I'm impressed. Truly impressed. My workflow has been vastly improved by the dual-panes, favourites, and live editing. AppZapper and Transmit functionality are just the icing on an already delicious cake. Until Apple comes up with a better Finder, ForkLift will be my file manager of choice.

Despite being available as a time-limited beta, ForkLift works flawlessly for me. Oh, and did I mention it's Leopard ready with Universal goodness?

Comments

22 Responses to “ForkLift: Now With 2 Killer Features”

  1. kugel on April 27th, 2007 9:33 am

    I’ll love this app.
    Any info on pricing?

  2. zozi on April 27th, 2007 9:44 am

    This app is getting really serious.

  3. Marvin Sum on April 27th, 2007 9:48 am

    @kugel: No word yet. But if it’s cheaper than Transmit + AppZapper combined, it will be a sweet deal.

    @zozi: Yep, it does look serious.

  4. kugel on April 27th, 2007 9:59 am

    Marvin,

    You didn’t menton PathFinder ;)

  5. John Doe on April 27th, 2007 11:43 am

    ForkLift have changed my life completely !

    I’ve lost 400 pounds from my weight, and now I’m a happy man.

    Oh it’s a fuckin’ commander for the Mac ;)

  6. Viktor Szathmary on April 27th, 2007 11:48 am

    The two-pane concept, as championed by Norton Commander, is indeed a really effective way to manage files for power-users. ForkLift is probably the best implementation of this on the Mac today.

    Now only if ForkLift adhered more to the Orthodox File Manager (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_file_manager) standard in key-bindings (F3 view, F4 edit, F5 copy, etc), old-school folks, like myself, who have grown up with these key bindings wired into their cerebellum, would be happy to use this product.

  7. Steven Owens on April 27th, 2007 11:49 am

    While I like Forklift, I don’t see it replacing finder for me simply because the integration is not as good. This is the same reason I use Mail and Safari instead of Thunderbird and Firefox.

  8. dave on April 27th, 2007 11:51 am

    i love this app too – just wish it had an auto file back up option for storing real time edits and changes…or maybe a sorta ‘subversion lite’ for personal use? now there’s a cool idea for a product…like time machine, but a more cvs style interface…

  9. Andrew on April 27th, 2007 3:46 pm

    this should’ve been released years ago. Using finder alone for file operations has almost done irreversible damage to my brain

  10. Marvin Sum on April 27th, 2007 6:05 pm

    @Viktor Szathmary: It’s possible to change the key bindings in ForkLift. Look under Preferences > Shortcuts.

    @Steven Owens: ForkLift is written in Cocoa, so it looks like any Mac app out there, unlike Thunderbird/Firefox which are both written in XUL (I think).

    @Andrew: Agreed.

  11. paul on April 27th, 2007 6:35 pm

    I think the best thing about ForkLift is its speed. I could not believe my eyes how much faster than Transmit when moving a lot of small files to SFTP which I do a lot.

  12. Tim on April 28th, 2007 8:41 pm

    It was just about time to have an application like ForkLift. It’s really promising indeed.

  13. JimBo on April 29th, 2007 5:04 pm

    This app is so neat! I’ve been using it for a while and it satisfies all my file managing needs. The UI needs a bit polishing though. :)

  14. Adric on April 30th, 2007 7:33 am

    I don’t have any problems with the finder, but this is a very cool application. I’ve been using it through out the day, and I have to say I’m impressed. Finding things is a lot quicker, and you basically only need a few clicks to find what you. I also like the two pane style, and the drag-and-drop between them. Very nice. I will watch this application closly.

  15. Marvin Sum on April 30th, 2007 5:17 pm

    Thank you all for your positive feedback on ForkLift. Just to let you guys know, I’ve got some exclusive ForkLift stuff coming. You’ll love it.

    Stay tuned!

  16. Exclusive Interview: A Surprise from BinaryNights | MacApper on May 9th, 2007 11:16 am

    [...] weeks ago, I reviewed ForkLift, an advanced file manager that turned out to be a very useful application. While I voiced my [...]

  17. KubaMan on May 9th, 2007 5:01 pm

    It’s a cheap rip-off of the original Norton Commander. Nothing new here!

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  22. Mommy Makeover Cost on September 29th, 2011 12:21 pm

    Norton Commander wannabe. Not doing it for me.

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