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File Managers

When it comes to managing files--copying, moving, sorting--Microsoft didn't make life easy: Windows Explorer, provided with Windows 95 and NT 4.0, is less powerful than Windows 3.1's File Manager in some respects. Fortunately, utility vendors have filled the file-management void. All of the file managers here let you copy, move, and juggle files more efficiently than does Windows Explorer. Some of them add file viewing, zipping, and other extras.

SUMMARY

Drag and File Gold 4.17 PRO: Lots of file management tools, file transfer protocol feature, desktop toolbar. CON: More expensive than Best Buy. Canyon Software 800/280-3691 www.canyonsw.com

What would Windows 3.1's File Manager look like if Microsoft had continued developing it? A lot like Canyon Software's excellent Drag and File Gold 4.17. Street-priced at $55, this handy utility restores vital features that Windows Explorer omitted, including a dual-window view and file filtering (letting you see, for instance, .bmp files only). You can also zip and unzip files, do FTP transfers across the Net, use a customizable toolbar to open drive windows and launch programs from the desktop, and synchronize two directories to ensure that they contain the same version of files (handy if you take work to and from the office). If you integrate the program with Win 95's Quick View or Canyon's own Drag and View, you get a built-in file viewer, too. If you don't need zipping tools, save $20 with the non-Gold version. Though it's a great program, Drag and File costs more than our Best Buy, PowerDesk Utilities 98--and if you plan to buy several utilities, every dollar counts.

SUMMARY

PowerDesk Utilities 98 PRO: Widest variety of features, including encryption and a disk-space gauge. CON: Cluttered toolbar. Mijenix 800/245-8000 www.mijenix.com

Mijenix's impressive PowerDesk Utilities 98 looks and works much like Drag and File Gold--only with a slightly larger lineup of tools, and for less money. Like that package, it restores features of Windows 3.1 File Manager missing from Win 95's Explorer, adds synchronization and zipped archive tools, and integrates with Inso's Quick View Plus. It also has built-in encryption and decryption, plus Size Manager, a bar graph of how much space folders use. Unfortunately, PowerDesk's customizable toolbar is crowded and unattractive. Still, at a street price of $40, this Best Buy is the most economical way to boost your productivity in Windows.

SUMMARY

Turbo Browser 98 6.01 PRO: Built-in file viewing, graphics conversion, and batch processing. CON: Can't display multiple folder views, no floating toolbar, pricey. Pacific Gold Coast 800/732-3002 www.turbobrowser.com

Though Pacific Gold Coast's Turbo Browser 98 6.01 substantially improves on Windows Explorer, it's costlier ($60 street price) and less intuitive than either Drag and File or PowerDesk. Turbo Browser provides plenty of useful file management features, including zipped archive tools and graphics conversion; it also offers the Qbar, a unique way to queue up batches of files for later zipping or unzipping, conversion, and viewing. Built-in filters handle the program's file viewer for a few formats, and the feature's compatibility with Microsoft's ActiveX enables it to display Office 97 files faithfully. Unlike the other file managers here, however, Turbo Browser assumes a high level of technical savvy.