Default Folder X 4.3.6 is finally available, delivering a whole bunch of improvements and fixes.  And yes, it finally uses Sparkle to check for updates

If you use Default Folder X, make sure you update to 4.3.6 - not only does it address bugs in some of its own features, but it also compensates for a lot of the quirks and not-quite-right things in Snow Leopard.

For a full listing of changes and links to download it (in various languages), check the What’s New page. If you just want to grab the update right away, use this link:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/cgi-bin/dl.cgi?DX

As always, if you encounter problems or have questions, post a comment here or send an email to us!

Sigh - and I thought we had everything completely tested this time…

You can get the new release of Default Folder X from the What’s New page, or just download it using this link:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/cgi-bin/dl.cgi?DX

Version 4.3.5 of Default Folder X remedies two things:

1. In Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and other Carbon applications, Default Folder X’s windows and controls could be left on-screen after a Save dialog went away.  This will no longer happen in 4.3.5.
2. The latest version of OpenMeta uses a different metadata keyword for storing tags in the extended attributes of files (this was not my choice). Because of this, it needs to ‘upgrade’ any tags that you’ve already attached to your files - it searches for them with Spotlight and makes copies of them under the new names. This is necessary if you want Default Folder X (and other OpenMeta-based tagging tools) to continue reading them, but can bog down your machine if you have lots of tagged files.

   Default Folder X will normally do this upgrade automatically. It does, however, take time and resources, so DFX now contains a hidden switch that lets you turn off this upgrade process until you’re ready for it to run.  To get to it, option-click on the Settings button in the DFX preference pane.  You’ll get this window:

   

   Just turn on that “DisableOpenMetaUpgrade” checkbox at the bottom.  Remember that you DO need to run the OpenMeta upgrade eventually or you’ll find that old tags won’t show up when you look at them with Default Folder X (though they’re still there).

   The one situation where you might want to leave OpenMeta upgrading disabled is if you’re using MailTags to tag your email messages and won’t need to access those tags with DFX or any other OpenMeta tagging tool.

Sorry for providing another update so quickly after the last, but it was important to get these changes out, especially #1.  We don’t want you to have problems with Save dialogs!

I’ve fixed a number of things in version 4.3.4 of Default Folder X.  If you’re using Default Folder X, you should grab the update - it’s free, and will run more smoothly on your system.  A full list of changes is available on the release page, or you can just download the installer here:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/cgi-bin/dl.cgi?DX

Thanks to everyone for their feedback and assistance with testing!

It’s out!

Default Folder X 4.2.1 now lets you quickly see the contents of your files by showing you preview images in its hierarchical menus. You can visually browse through folders full of files quickly, straight from your menu bar. This release also offers additional support for Path Finder, improvements to Default Folder X’s “Rebound” feature and a bunch of compatibility fixes. Version 4.2.1 is also compatible with the latest developer release of Mac OS 10.6 “Snow Leopard.”

Full details are on the Default Folder X Release Page.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback, bug reports and testing!

Here’s the 4.2.1b2 build of Default Folder X:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/download/DefaultFolderX-4.2.1b2.dmg

The new menu preview feature now has an on / off switch in the preferences window, and due to popular demand the small sized previews have increased to 192 x 192 (instead of 128 x 128).  The zoom-when-you-pause feature now works reliably on all systems, and this build works correctly under Mac OS 10.4.  Please download it and give it a spin!

Send any bug reports, impressions, and feature requests to defaultfolder@stclairsoft.com.  Here’s the full 4.2.1 change history from the ReadMe:

• Default Folder X now gives you file previews in its menus.  As you mouse through Default Folder X’s hierarchical menus from the menu bar, you’ll see a preview of the file that’s highlighted in the menu.  Hover there for a couple of seconds and the preview will enlarge.
• In Open and Save As dialogs, Default Folder X now puts a “Computer” item at the top of the folder hierarchy in the path menu.
• New Spotlight tags were sometimes not written out to the shared OpenMeta recent tag list.  This has been fixed.
• Spotlight tag completion now ignores differences in diacritical marks.
• Added support for Fluid site-specific browsers when they’re running as menu extras.
• Previews now correctly follow aliases so that a preview of the original file is shown when you select an alias in an Open dialog.
• When two folders with the same name are in a menu, the menu items for them will now include the name of the parent folders that uniquely identify those folders (Default Folder X used to just show their immediate parent folders, but sometimes those had the same names too).
• Fixed an AppleScript problem that would cause Preview to print a PDF file over and over again if you selected a the file in the Finder and chose Print from the File menu.
• Changed the rebound feature so that filenames with a ‘:’ character are recognized correctly in Cocoa applications.
• Corrected a problem that would result in Default Folder X not loading in multiple running applications that had the same creator signature (when running both Photoshop CS3 and CS4 at the same time, for instance).
• Default Folder X was saving empty Finder comments, resulting in Spotlight attaching empty com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment attributes to some files.  This has been fixed.
• Fixed compatibility problems with python-based applications that use appscript.
• Added support for 64-bit PowerPC applications to the scripting addition.
• Corrected inconsistent rebound behavior on network server drives.
• Fixed the Extras/DFX script so it doesn’t show a busy cursor when it pops up the Default Folder X menu.

Thanks!