Frigate

Pros

• Very complete set of features
• File viewers and editors included
• Network access

Cons

• Some features and utilities are redundant
• The interface looks dated

Frigate is a file management application and file viewer. The program comes with a wide range of features designed to replace the sometimes awkward and inefficient Windows explorer. Frigate comes with a large amount of documentation for all the features and includes tool tips at startup. The program is targeted towards users who need to handle large amounts of files. It also includes options that anyone doing software development will appreciate. Two versions of Frigate are available. The standard version is free, and the professional version must be purchased. The standard version does include much of the same functionality as the professional version.

Frigate uses a simple and easy to navigate interface. Most of the features can be accessed through a menu bar and hotkeys that run along the top of the application. The main viewing area is a tabbed display of different panels. The panels used for browsing or exploring directories use the familiar two-pane design. The directory structure is an expandable tree on the left while the right pane shows the contents of the currently selected directory. A few different file viewing panes are available that can each be customized. Some show a broad overview of the system. Others are specialized for viewing directories as collections of images or media files.

Everything that a person would need to do to manage files is implemented very effectively in Frigate. The program uses a multi-threaded design. This allows a number of different file functions to occur simultaneously. It is possible to copy, delete or move files without having to wait for a previous operation to finish. This is especially useful for dealing with large files that take several minutes to process. A modern feature in Frigate is that it treats all accessible drives the same. It has network functionality built-in. The application can use the file transfer protocol to access remove network drives or services.

Frigate can also act as a file viewer when necessary. The application includes some custom viewers for a range of files. This includes business files like Excel spreadsheets, hypertext documents and certain database files. It has an image viewer for common file types like JPG, GIF and PNG. Frigate integrates some basic editors into the design as well. It is possible to convert between some file formats. There is a text editor included that works well. Developers will appreciate that the text viewer automatically highlights keywords when viewing Java, C or script files. Binary files can be viewed with a built-in hexadecimal editor.

Frigate is extendable. Several plug-ins are available for the program. These plug-ins make it possible to view a larger selection of files types. There are a few features in the professional version that can make managing files even easier. These include a file synchronization tool, a notes manager and a tool for managing or creating more free space on a disk drive. Frigate is a powerful file manager for people who need advanced functionality beyond what Windows explorer can provide.

Pros

• Very complete set of features
• File viewers and editors included
• Network access

Cons

• Some features and utilities are redundant
• The interface looks dated