In general, all files are maneuvrable with both Windows File Explorer and macOS Finder, which has its advantages. However, the thing that draws me back to File Explorer every single time is its simplicity and better, user-friendly interface.
More straightforward Navigation From the Start
Expanded Reference Windows File Explorer enhances navigation beginning when you launch the application. Options such as the path bar and the toolbar, for instance, include pre-added functions, so you do not need to adjust settings to access them.
In Finder, these handy tools aren’t immediately on your face like in the Windows file explorer; instead, they are buried within the settings if enabled. Thus, some of them can remain completely unaware of them.
It may be minor, but it makes File Explorer feel more natural from the start.
Default Access to Hard Drives for Fine-Tuned File Management
File Explorer can make available your computer’s primary disk drives and other system files within the Pinned Folders section at a glance. This makes it easy to ‘interact’ with important system files as and when you want to.
As found in Finder, getting to your hard drive involves a few more clicks. Surprisingly, there is a setting that you need to turn on to be able to see your hard disks on a Mac. They did a small thing at Apple that would deter people from messing around with files they should not.
But, since most people could probably spend years using a Mac and never know this setting is there again, I like the File Explorer approach of showing it first and letting the user decide.
File Explorer Organizes Everything Better
The organization system based on the hierarchical model is most likely one of the recognizable features of File Explorer. The left-hand tree view is one of the powerful features for easy navigation among the folders and sub-folders.
The level of Finder offered does not make it less easy to go deeper in nested directories. Whenever there are many folders for a user to sort, File Explorer makes it much more manageable, and thus, it takes less time to locate a certain file.
Move More Types of Files Cut/Paste
While Finder has this feature only available, I believe, with a keyboard shortcut to cut and paste files, File Explorer has this option located in the context menu. Of course, it is great to have shortcuts, but sometimes it is easier to use the menu—simply because some computer illiterate person, let’s say an older family member, cannot understand how to operate the shortcut and how to use a specific program in general.
Another is that Mac’s Finder does not support using the copy/paste function to transfer beyond text. Yes, you can use a small Mac trick to transport files back and forth more efficiently, yet File Explorer makes it simple right from the onset in Windows. It is a very subtle gesture, but it speaks volumes about how, at its core, File Explorer is an app for everyone.
The niceties of Mac Finder are undeniable and doubly valuable when Apple’s tools themselves are the working context. But when it comes to overall organization and ease of accessing the basic functions of a file manager, I use Windows File Explorer.
File Explorer offers just the right level of user interface for both gurus using advanced touch pads and novices. The combined balance of form and substance cannot be easily trumped.
