[gui-talk] Announcing FileDir 1.0--a free, powerful & friendly file/directory manager

[David Andrews]

>
>Now available at
>http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/dirsetup.exe
>
>FileDir 1.0
>Released January 1, 2007
>
>FileDir, a file and directory manager, is intended to be a generally
>superior alternative to Windows Explorer or My Computer for managing a
>computer file system in an efficient, accessible manner.  It is
>particularly designed to optimize productivity by users of the JAWS or
>Window-Eyes screen readers.  Familiar features of Windows Explorer are
>replicated for starting functionality and ease of learning.  FileDir then
>adds much in power and convenience.
>
>Developed in the C# language, the FileDir application requires the .NET
>Framework 2.0 to run.  This is a free Microsoft download from
>http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en
>
>FileDir features include the following:
>
>*  Open any number of directory views in a standard Multiple Document
>Interface (MDI), where Control+Tab cycles among open windows and
>Control+F4 closes one.  F4 also lets you pick from a list of those
>currently open.
>
>*  A standard ListBox rather than ListView control is used to display
>files and subfolders, so the interface is more streamlined and responsive
>then Windows Explorer.
>
>*  With single, mnemonic keystrokes, start verbalizing a file or inspect
>its size, date, or other attributes.
>
>*  Tag files or folders in various ways.  Unlike selection in Windows
>Explorer, an accidental change of focus in the list does not affect the
>set of tagged items, and the Control key does not have to be held down to
>preserve tags while navigating.
>
>*  Via speech, list all files in the current folder, or just the tagged
>ones -- regardless of how many are visible on the screen.
>
>*  Zip and unzip files, or navigate within a ZIP archive with the same
>interface as regular folders.
>
>*  Convert various file formats to plain text, including Microsoft Word,
>Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe PDF, Windows Help, Rich Text Format, and HTML.
>
>*  Capture the full path of a file or set of files to the clipboard for
>convenient pasting into dialogs of other applications.
>
>*  Combine multiple files into a single compound document.
>
>*  Filter files in the current folder based on a wild card specification.
>
>*  Jump to a file in the current folder based on part of its name or words
>in its body.  Multiple keyword terms are possible, where a match may
>require either all terms or any one of them.
>
>*  Navigate among the subset of tagged files, e.g, going to the next
>tagged file, skipping over untagged ones.
>
>*  Go quickly to another drive, arriving in the folder and on the file
>that last had focus there.
>
>*  Create a shortcut to any file or folder, and invoke a list of them with
>a single key.
>
>*  Start an email message with the textual content of a file as its body,
>or start a message with one or more tagged files as attachments.
>
>*  Burn files onto a CD.
>
>The number of FileDir commands exceeds 100.  Each is available by either
>menu selection or hot key.  If you have trouble remembering the menu or
>key associated with a command, try the Alternate Menu command, Alt+F10,
>which lets you pick from a single, alphabetized list of all commands in a
>standard list box.
>
>All commands are discussed in sections of the documentation organized by
>conceptual category.  The documentation is automatically displayed at the
>end of installation, and may be reopened by pressing F1 in the program.
>Alt+Shift+H displays a summary of hot keys.
>
>This is the official, 1.0 release of FileDir, after several rounds of
>public beta testing and feedback.  I invite people to try it, ask
>questions, make suggestions, offer programming contributions, and spread
>the word on this free, open source project.
>
>Happy New Year!
>Jamal