Meet Steve & what's next for TotalFinder and TotalSpaces

That’s the plan, but in my view, TotalFinder & TotalSpace already do work with El Capitan.

At the moment, I think there’s both a message issue (the interpretation of supported) and a perception issue (how that message was interpreted by users).

Let’s look back prior to me taking over these apps. The message I was perceiving from BinaryAge regarding TF/TS on OS X 10.11 was that they could never claim 10.11 was fully supported.

I’ll explain what that means to me by way of example. SizeUp, another app I develop, currently states that OS X 10.6 is the minimum requirement, when it’s actually possible to run on OS X 10.5. I just say 10.5 is not supported because I don’t want to maintain a Mac running OS X 10.5 just for testing =P

So in developer parlance, saying that something is not supported or not fully supported doesn’t mean it won’t work, we just can’t guarantee it will work in the future. It’s a hedge against Apple pulling the rug out from under us and making apps like TF/TS 100% impossible to run. When the reality is, Apple just made it more difficult for users to install and run apps like TF/TS in OS X 10.11.

However, it seems the message customers perceived was that TotalFinder and TotalSpaces don’t work on OS X 10.11 and they’re not being developed further. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I’m trying to change this perception and reverse the momentum it has.

What do people think? Perhaps my view does not accurately reflect the situation.

I would like to hear more about this idea. Perhaps a graphical mockup would help. Maybe start a new topic?

Steve

Steve: I can’t get total spaces to work properly with three or two monitors. Reboots inconsistently reset all the spaces I’ve laboriously produced. Here’s my original post from Nov 14; now all my macs are using El Capitan latest version and I’d love to use total spaces again but I don’t want to waste time testing until I’m assured new total spaces will work on two or three monitors

thanks for the DisplaySpacesManager, stephen. I’m afraid I’m going to have to use it 'cause my desktop configurations are getting reset from time to time. I create 9 spaces on each of two screens, name them, then associate photos with each despise on each display, and frequently I find that when I wake from sleep or disconnect the laptop from the other screen the primary desktops seem to be okay but the secondary screen’s names are reset to Desktop 10, Desktop 11, etc. and all my photos are lost. This is very frustrating. I’ve saved the configuration using your application. The next time I find myself in the same situation I’ll try to Restore using your utility.
hawra = Randy Hawkins

Finding this post has made my day. :vulcan: to Steve for helping to restore confidence and continuing the development of TotalFinder (and other BinaryAge apps). I too was confused by earlier messaging. What I understood was that support and development of TotalFinder was ending due to most users being unwilling to disable SIP and TotalFinder requiring that SIP be disabled to be installed and/or function. I cursed Apple and regrettably dropped back to using Finder when I heard the announcement. I’m really glad to hear this may not be the case and am looking forward to re-installing TotalFinder as development recommences. Thanks again to Steve and the entire BinaryAge team for building and continuing to support such useful apps for OS X, even when Apple’s policies make it extremely difficult to do so.

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Thanks for bringing this to my attention. This type of bug is terribly annoying to work with, since it’s terribly difficult to reproduce (it doesn’t happen all the time), but I’ll certainly look into this issue.

Glad to make your day!

To restore that confidence perhaps instead of saying “I joined BinaryAge” I should say “I bought into BinaryAge.” Having invested my own money to keep moving these apps forward, I’m literally betting that SIP is as-bad-as it’s going to get on OS X and that TotalFinder and TotalSpaces2 have years of life left (until VR renders all current “desktop” paradigms obsolete, or :alien::alien::alien: take over :earth_americas:, whichever comes first).

Well even more thanks are in order then! For both the personal investment and the development hours you’ll be putting in.

While a more secure OS is definitely a good thing, after sandboxing the app store and adding SIP hopefully Apple decides to lay off security features that hamstring developers for awhile. Surely TotalFinder and TotalSpaces have a long future with you at the helm.

Also, as an aside. TotalFinder updates have historically been free, but I’d be more than willing to support a paid update should it become necessary to continue development. I can only speak for myself, but I suspect that many other customers who’ve come to depend on TotalFinder in their workflow would agree.

Thanks again and best of luck!

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Thank you for the encouragement.

“Upgrade” fees can draw a lot of ire from customers. I’ve been maintaining SizeUp for 8 years (OS X 10.5 - 10.11), without charging an upgrade fee, because I see SizeUp as mostly “feature complete” and I’m happy to maintain it not only for the users but because I use it myself.

In order for me to justify charging an upgrade fee for TotalFinder or TotalSpaces, I would need to add a compelling set of new features. I have a HUGE list ideas for both products, though TotalSpaces has a little more latitude for expansion.

Right now, a lot of work needs to be done to make installation easier, so that’s my focus, but I will certainly be adding/fixing as we go.

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Absolutely!

Can I just say this is awesome news. I’ve tried all number of finder replacements but nothing has come close. The major thing that I miss is the dual pane visor mode with a sidebar on either side of the screen. You can kind of create this dual pane mode with other replacements but the sidebar just doesn’t work in other apps.

Also, I hope this means TotalTermal’s visor mode will start working again :slight_smile:

I’m extremely pleased to see that the development of TotalSpaces and TotalFinder will continue. I personally could not use a Mac without TotalSpaces. I recently upgraded to El Capitan, and Total Spaces is running fine with SIP enabled. Having to enter those commands in the Terminal though was a bit of a hassle. And as I assume I will have to do it again for every OS X and/or TotalSpaces update, an automated way that was more convenient would be very welcome.

Keep up the good work!

Yep, this trick should work for TotalFinder, but not currently for TotalSpaces.

I would certainly announce when it’s ready to share.

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No worries, good work shall continue to be kept up.

Hello Steve,
As a long-time TF user, I have been resisting the upgrade to El Capitan, because I was slightly worried about disengaging SIP. Today I was speaking with a friend who has upgraded to El Capitan, and I told her that you had claimed that " > in my view, TotalFinder & TotalSpace already do work with El Capitan." She recently purchased TF, and when she tried to open it, a warning came up indicating that TF was incompatible with the SIP. Does one have to dismantle SIP entirely to use TF, or will it simply work without all its features? If that is the case, which ones and how can one get it running with the new limitations?
Can you clarify this for me? Many thanks, and I am glad you have decided to try and make it fully compatible. I hope that’s soon. TF is far superior to the Apple finder.
Michael S.

I love both TotalFinder and Spaces, don’t have an issue with disabling SIP if it means that your productive tools can be used on my system. But yes I would disable/enable SIP at install. I am delighted that you have taken the ball up with these wonderful tools, both indispensable for me.

For a guy that regularly clicks ‘Check For Updates’ I am thrilled that you are moving forward with both products ! I would love to see in TF the ability to select files by masks, and if you could build the function of FilePane ™ into TF then we are rocking. Count on my support to move forward, upgrade costs don’t scare me off. It is totally necessary to keep the products alive.

Let me chime in and say this is really exciting news and I literally cannot wait for you to provide TotalSpaces with SIP enabled. TotalSpaces was a key part of my development workflow (I don’t like to use multiple monitors), and not having it and having to rely on Mission Control has just been really bumming me out. I have 8 desktops and scrolling back and forth on them is such a pain. I would disable SIP but its one of those things I think I probably shouldn’t go without.

Please, please fix SIP support for TotalSpaces!

You can already follow these instructions for installing and running TotalSpaces with SIP fully enabled.

Yep, this trick is for TotalFinder, but not currently for TotalSpaces.

I am a former user of TotalFinder who uninstalled it when El Capitan came out.

I logged on here for the first time for 6 months (as I thought TotalFinder was non-existent under El Capitan when running SIP).

I read some exciting positive news about it working now so I reinstalled it, followed this http://totalfinder.binaryage.com/system-osax1 but all I’m getting is “Troubles launching TotalFinder”.

I am using v1.7.12 and I have OSX 10.11.5.

So this article is not correct as I followed the instructions exactly…

Thanks in advance.

I’ve successfully pulled this off with TotalFinder twice over, both times, following the same instructions, using almost the same version of OSX (I’m on 10.11.6 on both systems), installing the same version of TotalFinder, done apparently within the same timeframe (a couple hours ago)! I’ve not used TotalFinder before (but I am a registered TotalSpaces user) and so I’m evaluating (and very likely to purchase Real Soon Now :slight_smile: ); I doubt that makes a substantive difference, though. (Heck, it even works on my hackintoshed Thinkpad; the other system is an Early 2009 Mac Pro).

You may want to double-check (or triple-check, as the case may be) those instructions. Specifically:

  • Is TotalFinder.osax really in /System/Library/ScriptingAdditions/?
  • Does TotalFinder.osax have the correct permissions? (It and everything in it should be owned by user root and group wheel)
  • Is there still a TotalFinder.osax in /Library/ScriptingAdditions/? There probably shouldn’t be.
  • Are there any other Finder-altering tweaks that might be causing interference? (I used to be running XtraFinder; while its presence did not interfere with TotalFinder, I may well have just been lucky in that regard).

Hope this helps!

Thanks for replying but I’ve checked all that again and it simply just doesn’t work. It won’t launch. Perhaps it was stupid of me to reinstall it and think it would work again !