Q-Dir (64-bit)

Q-Dir (64-bit) from Nenad Hrg is a freeware file manager with some interesting twists. Like other file management utilities, it displays your disk drives, files, folders, and other system information, making it easy to delete, copy, export, rename, and move files and folders. Q-Dir also offers optional context-menu integration and portable operation, but what really sets it apart from other file management tools is its highly flexible interface with "amazing Quadro-View technology." That sounds like something you'd find at the 1951 Motorama, not a 2011 file management utility, but it's actually a useful four-screen interface with variations. This setup lets you view multiple disks or directories simultaneously in one interface, ending desktop clutter and window-juggling. It also simplifies dragging and dropping and other file maintenance.

Q-Dir's default view is the four-pane 4-Dir Quadro-View window, which duplicates all window features and the same basic tree view in each pane. At the end of the program's main menu bar is a series of icons for toggling between its 12 different display configurations, such as 3-Dir (three windows), 2-Dir, horizontal, vertical, and so on, with an optional left-hand navigation panel and system tree view. With four drives on two physical hard disks in our system, Q-Dir's 4-Dir view was perfect for a one-look overview. Once we'd chosen our view, we could set it as the program's default. Each separate window offers a complete Explorer-style interface, so browsing to various folders and files had a familiar feel. Best of all, the clearly separated yet unified view ended the tedious business of resizing and dragging around various open windows or, worse, trying to use the navigation arrows to move between two or more directories. Q-Dir has some useful extras, too, such as a Magnifier tool, and many options relating to how it opens, runs, looks, and performs.

The 64-bit edition Q-Dir is one of the most flexible Windows file managers we've tried, with too many options to describe. There's a Help file if you need it, though its English language version seems to have been the product (or victim) of machine translation, with the occasional smile-provoking phrase. However, nothing about either the program or its documentation was unclear or confusing, and we recommend Q-Dir without reservation.