I just watched the PathFinder 5 screencast, and I see it has changed some since I used it last. I like Finder-like sidebar now (instead of drawers hanging off the sides), and it looks like the interface has been slimmed a bit. I also really like the Dual-View mode – i hadn’t seen that before.

Maybe it’s time to give PF5 another try!

When I switched to Mac during 10.3, I found the Finder very lacking, and gladly bought PathFinder. I used it exclusively, and enthusiastically, up until Leopard came out, with its redesigned Finder.

When I upgraded to 10.5, I tried to keep using PathFinder, but I found that the 10.5 finder actually addressed about 90% of the reasons I was using PathFinder, and I actually started to prefer the slimmer, more simple Finder over PathFinder. Since then, I just haven’t bothered with installing or upgrading PathFinder, and have been happy with Finder. I expect the trend to continue into 10.6. There are times when I miss the Shelf (a great idea that Apple should implement, I think), but there are no more “must have” features to bring me back to pathFinder.

I wonder how many people are like me in this way? Has PathFinder sales dropped off since the release of 10.5? Do you hear more feedback that PathFinder is not as necessary after Apple’s redesign? I love supporting independent programmers, but hey…. inertia is a bitch, and it’s hard to switch to 3rd party apps when the built-in apps work fine.