EF Commander Editor's Review

'EF Commander' is a file manager for Windows. It's very similar to Total Commander. EF Commander's user interface allows you to browse your computer in two separate panels. It's very flexible, pluginable and it can be easily customized. You can choose the colors, the fonts, the shortcut keys, and the icons for the interface.

Browsing files in separate panels is efficient. It enables you to move or copy files from one panel to another with just a key strike. EF Commander has a toolbar, which contains a button for each drive that appears in "My Computer". Each panel can be set to display the files and folders differently. You can choose to view directory contents as a list, icons, or thumbnails. The default view mode, lists the files and their details. To simplify browsing even more, the program can display a directory tree inside each of the two panels.

Numerous other features make EF Commander a powerful tool. You can rename multiple files, split or join files, pack or unpack archives, synchronize directories, and so on. The program calculates the size of your directories, which helps if you want to see how your hard disk space is used. Most of EF Commander's features open in separate windows and look much like independent applications.

If you are familiar with Total Commander, you shouldn't have any problem learning to use this program. The only difference concerning the user interface is that EF Commander has icons in the main menu. In terms of functionality, EF Commander has a few more features that are useful for file and directory management.

Pluses: The program supports multiple languages, making it easier for a beginner to understand the user interface. However, I consider the integrated CD/DVD burner to be the most useful and innovative feature.

Drawbacks / flaws: The program stops responding when listing high-resolution photos as thumbnails. On my computer (Pentium 4, 2,7 GHz, 2 GB RAM, Vista Home Premium), it took about 10 seconds to render the thumbnails of 10 images. Also during its evaluation period, the program constantly displayed the license agreement.

In conclusion: Overall, EF Commander is a good tool for file management. It has many features, but it isn't the fastest file manager.

version reviewed: 7.01