Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mac OS X 3D File Browser

Posted by pudge on from the shades-of-project-x dept.

A user writes "A development team at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana has released a 3-dimensional file browser called 3DOSX as a test of the feasibility of the technology. This program uses OpenGL to render a file system as a series of floating 'platters' interconnected by semi-translucent beams of light." I tried this on my old PowerBook G3/400, first from the source and then from the disk image, and then realized I don't have the required OpenGL-accelerated video card. Doofus am I! Be not like me! (However, it does work, albeit very slowly, on a new iBook/600). J adds: Nice and fast on an old G4/500 with a Radeon.

4 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. FSV by Picass0 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Or you could use the FSV browser for other unixes.

    Screenshots

  2. Re:So finally it's true! by bwulf · · Score: 3, Informative

    The original: http://www.sgi.com/fun/freeware/3d_navigator.html
    The re-implementation: http://fsv.sourceforge.net/

    I really should get to try out the SGI version some time, though it claims to run on 5.3 and less only.

  3. Remember Hot Sauce? by cei · · Score: 2, Informative

    Apple had something similar as a browser plugin years ago. Hot Sauce Meta Content Format. Don't know if it predates the SGI's or FSV or anything.

    --
    This sig intentionally left justified.
  4. Re:Size isn't important by Sentry21 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, this is insanely handy when you're having one of those 'where did all my space go?' days. The interface used in Jurassic Park shows large files as large, so it's easy to see a 3 gig logfile, even way off in the distance.

    This would have saved a coworker and I a lot of worry and filled drives several times. *sigh*

    --Dan