About PowerDesk, I am both against it, and for it. I am against it
because, strictly speaking, it is both nagware, and adware.
Nagware. The screen comes up both upon open and upon close. The
opening screen tells you to buy the pro version, and tells you how
many times you have "taken a free ride." Most shareware I used, in the
old days before trial time-outs, where guilt was the method, even they
didn't apply as much pressure as PowerDesk.
Adware. The ad is built right into the main screen, taking up valuable
real estate. In a file manager, that makes it even worse, for that's
the time you need your screen space the most. Yet there you have it,
this program only allows you a reduced portion as your application
window, and the other part is the advertisement.
PowerDesk is just on the fuzzy edge of adware, not an extreme case.
Its nags and ads are too much for me, but not enough that I would have
felt strongly enough about the matter to bring it into PL remove
discussions.
Now what I like about it. I do not use at all the file manager
component (though others do). But PowerDesk, it's not a file manager
you get alone, but actually a whole suite of file utilities.
pdexplo.exe The file manager
pdfind.exe A find applet, that sits in the same menu locations as
the
windows Find, and works very much the same, but with
some added choices (including "append" and "refine",
for successive rounds of searching)
pdesk.exe A toolbar, menu launcher
sizemgr.exe A very good program for this type: directory space
usages.
Has all the explorer context-menu functions. A very
enhanced Find panel. Tag results in the file hierarchy
display. This has become a most interesting little toy
in v5.
pdync.exe Synch two folders. Like everything in the list, it runs
as
a standalone. Independent from the pdexplo.exe file
manager.
pddlghlp.exe Open/Save As dialog enhancer. Resizes. Tracks recent
folders
and files. Preview function in the Open dialog, if
quickview component installed.
So this makes PowerDesk a file utilities suite, not merely a file
manager, as is 2x explorer. All of the file utilities in that list,
they can run independently from the file manager.
My vote? Well, I dislike the file manager due to it arguably crossing
the line into adware. It'd be cleaner for PL to have this thing off
its list. And the fact that it didn't make top vote, then that could
happen without a lot of noise.
At the same time, I much ike the suite of utilities. (None of which
are adware or nagware). And to lose them all from PL, in one stroke,
for having a single file manager on the list, that feels like a loss.
So for my choice, I'll do like those folks did with the acceptable/
unacceptable threads. Place contradictory votes, in both locations.
