[ThisGuy]

is it possible to get:
finder>view>show view options>keep arranged by>date created
to display icons the opposite way. i guess i am trying to ask if it is possible for the oldest files to stay at the top and the newer ones go to the bottom. i had no problem with this in jaguar, but panther reversed it on me.

[Moonray]

In fact there seems to be an option for reverse ordering missing for icon view. The usual reply is for such is "give Apple a feedback and hope". List view with large icons is no alternative for you?

-

[ThisGuy]

i'm sorry i realized that i never stated that this was for the desktop. it is weird to me that it changed to the opposite for panther. was the finder completely rewritten? i will be sending feedback, thanks for the idea.

[ThisGuy]

can any of you think how i could change the prefs manually to see if that helps? here is the part of com.apple.finder.plist that deals with keeping files arranged on the desktop:

Code:
	<key>DesktopViewOptions</key>
	<dict>
		<key>ArrangeBy</key>
		<string>ascd</string>
		<key>BackgroundFlags</key>
		<integer>0</integer>
		<key>BackgroundType</key>
		<string>DefB</string>
		<key>FontSize</key>
		<integer>11</integer>
		<key>IconSize</key>
		<integer>40</integer>
		<key>PropertiesLocation</key>
		<string>botm</string>
		<key>ShowPreviewIcon</key>
		<true/>
		<key>ViewMoreInfo</key>
		<false/>
	</dict>

if any of you are running jaguar and could tell me how apple abbreviates "descending" i would appreciate it.

[ThisGuy]

I emailed the fine people at TinkerTool and asked if they could possibly put an option in their next version to view the files how we wanted them. i got an email back and I was told what to do to fix this goofy sorting problem we have.

Please do the following:

Start TextEdit and open the file

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

("~/Library" means the Library folder in your personal home folder.)
Use TextEdit's
"Find" feature to search for the section "DesktopViewOptions". It
should look similar
to this:

Code:
	<key>DesktopViewOptions</key>
	<dict>
		<key>ArrangeBy</key>
		<string>none</string>
		<key>BackgroundFlags</key>
		<integer>0</integer>
		<key>BackgroundType</key>
		<string>DefB</string>
		<key>FontSize</key>
		<integer>12</integer>
		<key>IconSize</key>
		<integer>48</integer>
		<key>PropertiesLocation</key>
		<string>botm</string>
		<key>ShowPreviewIcon</key>
		<false/>
		<key>ViewMoreInfo</key>
		<false/>
	</dict>

the first section on my file looked like this:

Code:
		<key>ArrangeBy</key>
		<string>ascd</string>

after I changed it to look like this:

Code:
		<key>ArrangeBy</key>
		<string>none</string>

and restarted it now sorts the way it is supposed to.

If you haven't tried using TinkerTool i highly recommend it.
http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html
i have changed a few of my settings and for me it makes OS X even more user friendly than before.