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Mac OS X 3D File Browser
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.
It looks interesting, that's for certain. I don't know that I would want to use it all the time yet, at least because I couldn't drag-and-drop a file between platters.
For those who are curious what it looks like, I took a couple of screenshots. At the risk of slashdotting my school's server, they are here:
Platters View.
A welcome return of Labels.
The Get Info window.
I know this, this is a UNIX system, they tell you everything!!
Or you could use the FSV browser for other unixes.
Screenshots
When you see a file browser like this, can you doubt that we're now one step closer to navigating the Internet in the manner Johnny Mnemonic insisted we would?
(I mean just look at those 3DOSX screengrabs. The technology was clearly designed by superintelligent cyborg dolphins.)
Not sure if this Mac one does it or not ... but all previous 3D filemanagers I've seen (including ones linked to in other comments) sort files by size.
... the ones I want to work with today ... are minute in comparision.
... implemented like these ones ... utterly useless.
The biggest directory on my system is \winnt\system32 and, in a 3D view dwarfs other directories. How interested am I in system32? Bugger all.
The files I am interested in
And this makes 3D filemanagers
I'm wondering if there can ever be a truly useful 3D browser, at least on an ordinary computer monitor.
Monitors are 2D. Thus, showing windows, icons, and text in 2D is the optimal use of space. Observe that in a 2D interface, you can read size 8 text with no problem at all. In the 3D interface, the text is generally much larger, but since the vast majority of it is rotated into the background it's harder to read.
In 2D you can arrange lots of icons in a grid. In this 3D interface you can only see a few icons at a time, and even so they end up on top of each other (the front of the platter vs. the back).
Win dain a lotica, en vai tu ri silota
- Drag-and-drop support was the #1 feature that didn't make it in time for this release. We are currently deciding whether to continue to work on this (say, for an updated release at MacHack). We would add dragging, more file management functionality like renaming, and themes (support is ready, theme creation tools are not).
- If you are having performance problems: Make sure that the window is small enough that the dock, and any other translucent windows you may have open, do not overlap the GL context. Also, if you have less than 16MB of VRAM, reduce the window size (preferences) and relaunch the app. OS X appears to fall back to software rendering if the hardware is inadequate.
Thanks for the comments!DOS right in the middle of it. 3DOSX just gives me the willy's!
This
1. The same kind of options that 2D browsers have for UI preferences.... some people like sorting alpha, some by creation date/time, some by access date/time, some by size, etc. Rather than force one or another on users, why not let users pick a default, with a custom setting per window? /Users/username, and /Application...)
2. Storing state. Okay, I quit the app. I launch it 5 minutes later... where is my carefully crafted view? I have to rebuild it?
3. Okay, I'm looking at a platter with a set of files... but nowhere on the platter is the name. How do I know if this is tuesday's set of these files or wednesdays set? To see the name of the platter (so to speak), I have to go a level "down" or to my "platter" menu.
4. Maybe a bug, maybe a feature... go to root platter. Click on hard drive. Move out a bit, go back to root. Click on same drive. Move out a bit again. The "Platter" menu now has multiple drive listings.
5. Font selection?
6. Pulling platters to their own locations.... this may be a hard one to explain, but it would be nice if I could move a platter I used frequently "away" from the others... say, halfway across the pool.
7. (Adding on 6), even better, some custom "starting points" beyond the root. Say, two or three starting platters match my working style (/,
8. Ability to adjust Icon "density" for folders with lots of files. Imagine the dock concept, where, the more objects to represent, the smaller each object becomes.
9. Dimming/fading/darkening non-active platters... maybe increasing fog intensity for "distant" objects would do the trick?
10. Some other navigation, non-platter based. How about some keys for 'fly-around" control, so I can get an overhead look, or move around without using platters as the reference point?
Overall, a great piece of work, though. Much nicer for my working style than my usual 25 stacked windows.