Macintosh Finder

The Finder is the default application program used on the Mac OS and Mac OS X operating systems that is responsible for the overall user-management of files, disks, network volumes and the launching of other applications. As such the Finder acts like the shell on other operating systems, but using a graphical user interface. It was introduced with the very first Macintosh computer, and also existed as part of GS/OS on the Apple IIGS. It underwent a complete rewrite with Apple's switch to a UNIX-based OS in Mac OS X.

The Finder is the first program a user interacts with after booting a Mac (and potentially logging in), and as such it is responsible for the general look and feel of the machine. One should be careful to distinguish this from the actual GUI of the machine, which is really provided by particular services within the Mac OS (eg, WindowServer). The Finder is just another application, albeit the default one.

The Finder maintains a view of the file system that is rendered using the desktop metaphor - that is, the files and folders are represented as appropriate icons, volumes are displayed on the desktop, and there is a trash can (on the Dock in OS X, on the desktop in previous versions) to which files can be dragged to mark them for deletion.

Finder 1.0 to 4.1

The original Finder, used with the MFS (Macintosh File System) always included a blank folder at the root level of every disk. A new blank folder would be created whenever that folder was renamed and used. Folders could not be placed inside of folders in Finder 1.0-4.1. The folders were maintained only by Finder, and were not stored by the file system. As such, no two files could have the same name on a drive; folders were absent in application "open" dialogs (instead there would be simply a list of all files); and all folder information would be lost after rebuilding the desktop, dumping all files into the root level of the drive.

Finder also provided a "trash folder": the only way to delete a file was to first drag it to the trash folder, then empty the folder. However, the trash folder was also an illusion, and was not reflected on disk. The list of files in the trash was held only in memory. Finder therefore emptied the trash before it terminated, including before running any other application. If a crash intervened, items that had been in the trash were back in their original home.

The original Finder was also the cause of much early user frustration due to slow speed of file copying, which would lead to dozens of disk-swaps on the single-drive original Macintosh. Though much of this problem could be attributed to the small amount of memory available on the Macintosh 128K, Apple attempted to address the issue with Finder 1.1 in May 1984. However, it was Finder 4.1 in April 1985 that really improved the speed of the Finder and added new features, including the "New Folder" command and a "Shut Down" command in the new "Special" menu, which also provided access to the "MiniFinder". MiniFinder was a simplified interface that held often-used applications and documents and launched them much more quickly, which helped ameliorate the slowness of switching between applications to some extent.

Finder 5.x

Apple replaced the MFS with the HFS (Hierarchical File System) in September 1985, as part of Finder 5.0 which was introduced along with the Mac's first hard drive, the Hard Disk 20. Nested folders were no longer an illusion, but rather a reflection of the data organization on the disk. Finder 5.0 also added an "Eject" command in the File menu and several cosmetic changes to the look of the system's icons.

Finder Software 6.x

Early versions of the Finder would shut down whenever another program was launched, due to the single-tasking nature of the original Mac OS. System 5.x came with Finder 6.0 and the new MultiFinder, which allowed cooperative multitasking. MultiFinder was activated with a control panel whose setting took effect with the next restart. System Software 6.0.x came with Finder 6.1.x and introduced a much-improved version of MultiFinder, among other enhancements.

The original Mac OS Finder featured a "universal Desktop," which showed the union of the contents of the invisible "Desktop Folder" on the root level of every mounted disk. This meant that files dragged from a disk to the Desktop did not always copy to the Mac's hard drive, and would often disappear when the disk in question was later ejected (which in the Finder was achieved by dragging the icon of the disk to the trash).

Finder 7.0 to 9.2

In 1991 Apple released System 7, a significant rewrite of their operating system. Like every other component of the OS, the Finder received a major overhaul. MultiFinder was no longer an option, but was instead always active. Finder windows were colorized, and the list view was expanded to include "disclosure triangles" which allowed the user to drill down further into the file system without opening more windows. The Finder's trash icon took on a more refined appearance, and the Labels feature known from System 6, which allowed the user to assign metadata labels to different files, was extended to let users customize their names and colors. Labeled files' icons were colorized and the system's search function could locate files based on their labels. The trash folder was at last a real folder, and the user could empty it at their leisure, and even keep files in it across restarts.

A "Put Away" command premiered in System 7 which allowed users to drag icons from anywhere on their computer to the Desktop, use the file from the Desktop, and then scoot the file back to its original location with a single command. Finder 7.0 also unveiled an "alias" functionality which allowed files to be represented in multiple locations by simple pointer files. The Put Away command could also be used as an alternate means to eject mounted floppy disks and CD-ROMs.

Though the Macintosh System itself would undergo major changes in the intervening years, the Finder remained relatively unchanged until the release of Mac OS 8 in 1997. Finder 8.0 was the first version to be multithreaded. For the first time copying a file or emptying the trash did not block other uses of the Finder. Like the rest of the system, Finder 8.0 took on a metallic platinum appearance. It also featured several new features, including Pop Up windows, which appeared as tabs on the bottom of the Mac's screen until clicked on, at which point they displayed their contents. Spring-loaded folders were also introduced in Finder 8.0, which allowed a user to drag and drop files deep into the system's folder hierarchy with a simple drill-down mechanism.

Finder 8.1, released in early 1998, introduced support for the more efficient HFS+ file system. Finder 9, released in October 1999, introduced support for Multiple Users, Software Update, and the Classic Support Mode. Other features of Finder 9 were large (>2GB) file support, Encryption, Keychains, USB Printer Sharing, and CD Burning in 9.1. Finder 9 was the last major update to the classic Mac OS Finder. Apple stopped work on Mac OS 9, including the Finder, in December 2001 with Mac OS 9.2.2.

Finder 10.0 to 10.2.1

The Mac OS X Finder was not an update of the previous Finder, but was a complete re-write that borrowed concepts from the NeXTSTEP file manager. As such, it was a major departure from the original Finder and was poorly received by many longtime Macintosh users. Apple trumpeted a new principle; the Finder was no longer the whole GUI, but merely "just another application". However it remains the default program, and probably will as long as the desktop metaphor is used in Mac OS. The Mac OS X Finder is a Carbon application built on top of Metrowerks' Powerplant framework. Apple chose to use Carbon instead of the more elegant Cocoa API as a way of proving the validity of Carbon, hence eating its own dog food.

Finder 10.0 lacked many features found in its Classic predecessor. The universal Desktop was gone, replaced by a Desktop that presented only the contents of the user's own Desktop folder. Support for Labels, and almost any form of metadata, was gone, as were pop up windows, desktop printers, the "Put Away" command and spring-loaded folders. In Finder 10.0 the Trash was also removed from the Desktop and was no longer part of the Finder, having instead been integrated into the system's Dock.

Finder 10.0 also eschewed the classic Finder's "spatial" orientation, in which each location on the hard drive opened in its own window, and only one window, in favor of a Windows 98-style browser system.

Finder 10.0 introduced a highly-customizable toolbar which could be displayed at the top of every Finder window, and the NeXT-derived Column View, which displayed the hierarchy of the file system in a series of left-to-right panes. Users were also able to specify which, if any, of the mounted disks on their system appeared on the Desktop.

Mac OS X 10.1, a free update, brought CD burning capability to the Finder. This feature had been added to the classic Mac OS with version 9.1.

Finder 10.2 reintroduced spring-loaded folders, but they did not feature all of the functions of their Finder 8.0 predecessors. This version also added the ability to browse and download from, but not upload to, FTP servers from the Finder.

Just as with Finder 1.0, the Mac OS X Finder continues to show a view of the user's filesystem that is partly illusion. For example, when running a Unix shell, the file names are displayed as POSIX-style paths, even if the underlying file system is actually HFS. Unix files cannot contain the "/" character in a file name; because Macintosh users had historically been able to use "/" (but not ":") in a file name on an HFS file system, the Finder swaps over these two characters — a user types a name Input/Output which is converted to a POSIX name of Input:Output. The only characters not permitted in a filename are colons. In addition, the Finder will not let the user enter certain control characters (like the line break) even if the file system supports them. The Finder and shells both provide full unicode filename support.

Finder 10.3

Mac OS X v10.3 introduced a somewhat upgraded version of the Finder which restored several classic features while also introducing an updated, but not radically different, GUI.

Finder 10.3 took on a brushed-metal appearance similar to that of Apple's iTunes jukebox application. As with previous Finders introduced since Mac OS X 10.0, users could customize a toolbar at the top of the Finder window. This included a search pane, allowing for live searching of any selected folder or volume. A new panel to the left of the Finder window, called the Sidebar, allowed almost any item to be dropped in for quick access. Importantly, this customisation would appear in open and save dialogs within other applications. The Sidebar also listed and allowed the ejection of mounted removable storage. Labels and the ability to search by Type and Creator metadata, features in Mac OS 9 that were lost and much missed by Mac users, were restored in Finder 10.3.

By clicking the "show/hide toolbar" widget in the upper right of a window, not only a window's toolbar could be hidden, but the window also removed its sidebar and switched into an aqua-themed look and "spatial" behavior.

Finder 10.4

Mac OS X v10.4 introduces further changes to the Finder, including a slideshow feature (similar to that of Windows Explorer). This allows pictures to be viewed in series fullscreen directly from the Finder. Spotlight, a concept introduced in 10.4, features prominently throughout the revamped OS - the classic command-F Finder keyboard shortcut now shows a criterion-based search. These criteria searches can be saved as Smart folders which display the live-updating results of the search. Two other methods of search exist; the Spotlight menu item (command-space) and the Spotlight windows (command-option-space). These can be accessed system-wide and some have speculated that data organisation and the "desktop metaphor" are going to be phased out by the high-speed search functions in Mac OS X, thus rendering Finder redundant (see Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' In Depth at The Register). Apple itself claims that "Spotlight and Mac OS X will change how you find, organize and value the information saved on your computer" Mac OS X Spotlight. However, others have commented on the delays experienced when using Spotlight, even on newer Macs (see the MacInTouch review of Spotlight).

Finder replacements

Third party Macintosh software developers offer Finder replacements which run as stand-alone Macintosh applications, such as Path Finder. These replacements are shareware, and aim to provide the same functionality as the Finder as well as additional features which the Finder does not include.

External links

Apple's website
10.4 "Tiger" Finder Site
Ars Technica: About the Finder…
Ars Technica: Review of Mac OS X 10.3 - discussing the lack of fundamental changes to the Finder

File managers | Mac OS | Mac OS-only software made by Apple Computer

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Macintosh Finder