[superwormy]

Aight, newbie to OS X, always been a die-hard PC user...

First off, I ALWAYS want the Finder windows in Column mode, but when I open them sometimes they're in the Big Icons mode and its a pain to always have to click the button to change it back. Can I force Finder to ALWAYS open windows in Column View?


Also, WHY CAN'T I 'CUT' FILES!?! It seems to only want to let me Copy files most of the time, but I want to CUT them, and then Paste them somewhere else! How come OS X won't let me?

This is 10.3 on an iBook G4 if that matters...

[zachs]

Originally posted by superwormy:
Aight, newbie to OS X, always been a die-hard PC user...

First off, I ALWAYS want the Finder windows in Column mode, but when I open them sometimes they're in the Big Icons mode and its a pain to always have to click the button to change it back. Can I force Finder to ALWAYS open windows in Column View?

In the Finder, go to the "Finder" menu and select "Preferences." Click "General," and make sure that "Open new windows in column view" is checked.

Also, WHY CAN'T I 'CUT' FILES!?! It seems to only want to let me Copy files most of the time, but I want to CUT them, and then Paste them somewhere else! How come OS X won't let me?

This is 10.3 on an iBook G4 if that matters...

Apple (for reasons unknown) decided not to include that feature. You can only copy and paste files. Annoying, I know. You should send feedback to Apple:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/

[Sod Off Sadr]

not being able to cut is lame. I use this all the time on windows and it's a godsend. That's about the only positive thing I have to say about windows (compared to os x).

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by superwormy:
Also, WHY CAN'T I 'CUT' FILES!?! It seems to only want to let me Copy files most of the time, but I want to CUT them, and then Paste them somewhere else! How come OS X won't let me?

This has been discussed many times on this board before. Basically, it boils down to:

1. The way Windows cuts files is not a true cut

a. Cut is supposed to copy an immutable duplicate of some data to the clipboard, then delete the original data

b. The file is not deleted when you initiate the cut operation

c. The file is not immutable once cut to the clipboard - you could cut, change the file's name or contents and then paste, and what you pasted would not be the same as what you cut

d. The file can't be pasted multiple times

2. Having non-standard behavior for cut breaks the cut/paste paradigm and interface consistency

a. If it's called Cut, it should be Cut

b. Interface inconsistencies like this confuse users

3. However, if the Finder did implement a true cut, it would be dangerous as well as really inefficient

a. You could have a power failure or other problem in between the cut and paste operation

b. You could forget and put something else on the clipboard in between cutting and pasting

c. A user could cut the entire home folder (whoops)

d. Copying entire files to the Clipboard would get very expensive for large files and folders

So basically, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either you have a terrible interface design and a broken paradigm, or you have something that is really dangerous and inefficient. This is the reason that the Finder does not have Cut functionality. IMO, it shouldn't have Copy either, for many of the same reasons, but c'est la vie.

[Group51]

Option one

1. Drag it to the dock
2. Open the folder you want to move it to
3. Hold down the Apple key and drag the file from the dock to the folder.

This moves the file.

Option two:

1. Drag the file to an item in the side bar and hold it there
2. Wait for the icon to flash - this will open the contents to the right
3. Still holding down the mouse button, drag it to the first folder to start navigating down
4. Wait for the icon to flash, and open its content to the right
5. Repeat till you get to the appropriate folder, then let go of the mouse button.

This moves the file.
You must have Spring-Loaded Folders turned on in Finder Preferences > General for this to work.

[Millennium]

Originally posted by superwormy:
Also, WHY CAN'T I 'CUT' FILES!?! It seems to only want to let me Copy files most of the time, but I want to CUT them, and then Paste them somewhere else! How come OS X won't let me?

Because it's a horrible interface paradigm, a cancer brought on by Windows and best forgotten. Apple deliberately left out Cut when it implemented Copy/Paste on files, mostly because the logical behavior when someone Cuts a file and then doesn't Paste it anywhere is unclear.

Franky, Copy/Paste on files isn't very good either, but at least it doesn't suffer from that problem: if you Copy but don't Paste, the file stays where it is. Not so with Cut.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by Millennium:
Because it's a horrible interface paradigm, a cancer brought on by Windows and best forgotten. Apple deliberately left out Cut when it implemented Copy/Paste on files, mostly because the logical behavior when someone Cuts a file and then doesn't Paste it anywhere is unclear.

Franky, Copy/Paste on files isn't very good either, but at least it doesn't suffer from that problem: if you Copy but don't Paste, the file stays where it is. Not so with Cut.

Well, actually, when you cut and don't paste, the file does stay where it is. The problem is that this is non-standard behavior and breaks the cut/paste paradigm.

[MartiNZ]

Yeah, well, interface inconsistency aside, I would have to agree with the fact that it is handy being able to cut and paste files in Windows - it really just takes one step out of the process (deleting the original) but anyway.... The technique of moving the file to the dock and then command-dragging off is a nice one, and I only heard about it recently, but just as easy is to drag to the desktop, and it's easier to do that.

I operate in Icon view in Finder, and what bugs me on this subject is that you can't move files by drag + cmd-` to go to another window! This is annoying as I usually (try to) have Finder windows all open in the same place with the same size. Of course Finder doesn't make this easy; randomly forgetting window settings and requiring that I set them for every single folder separately, which would take ages for the whole folder tree!

Anyway, the cut and paste thing is basically the same as what MS has had implemented in Excel for years, and it really bugs me there - the fact that cutting doesn't remove the data until you paste it somewhere else. I understand the safeguard feature of it, but then the fact that it easily forgets that you have something copied / cut that you might want to paste again, is a real annoyance!

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by MartiNZ:
Anyway, the cut and paste thing is basically the same as what MS has had implemented in Excel for years, and it really bugs me there - the fact that cutting doesn't remove the data until you paste it somewhere else. I understand the safeguard feature of it, but then the fact that it easily forgets that you have something copied / cut that you might want to paste again, is a real annoyance!

Exactly. This drives me crazy. If the function is labeled Cut, then it ought to do a Cut and not something else. If it doesn't walk like a duck or quack like a duck, then don't call it a duck.

As for the Finder, they could implement this functionality if they called it something else, like Pick Up and Drop. But calling it Cut and Paste is inconsistent with what C&P is supposed to do.

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by MartiNZ:
I operate in Icon view in Finder, and what bugs me on this subject is that you can't move files by drag + cmd-` to go to another window! This is annoying as I usually (try to) have Finder windows all open in the same place with the same size.

It sounds like what you need is the F10 key.

[Thinine]

Yeah, really. With system wide drag and drop support, spring loaded folders, and Exposé, Cut is unnecessary.

[MartiNZ]

Originally posted by Chuckit:
It sounds like what you need is the F10 key.

Yeah, I know. I usually actually use F9, simply because I have my mouse wheel button set to it, but it's not quite as fast as cmd-` would be, and I just don't see why it doesn't work is all.