Marlin File Browser development on Fast Forward

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Soon to debut as a great new file browser, Marlin will give that familiar Nautilus Elementary feel and at the same time ensure you do more on it than on Dolphin, Thunar or Nautilus Elementary itself.

Designed to be a lightweight file browser, its scope is likely to be unlimited given the enhanced performance, responsiveness and easy-to-use features. It is soon to debut on Elementary OS Luna.

For one, Marlin Browser has tabbed browsing, multiple views modes, single-click default open option, multiple choices to configure toolbars and interface as well as a Plugin Framework.

Marlin File Browser is a project led by ‘ammonkey’, who is greatly inspired by Nautilus Elementary and will soon become the default file browser on Elementary OS. Though, it is yet in development, Marlin has already tested very well on Ubutu 11.10 by many users.

Marlin is based on gtk3 and uses Gnome 3 technologies extensively and is built in C and uses vala for interface. Some key features of XFCE file-browser Thunar too are included to give it a certain slickness despite it being a File browser.

The first reason Marlin File Browser began- to simplify Nautilus File Browser- is all set to be accomplished.

The second aspect that most testers appreciated, after its great ease of use, was its ideal integration with Unity. Marlin already has a good built-in support for Unity Quick lists.

Some new changes

Marlin now has some great features for compressing files. It now works with extended-actions rather than contractor and hence has no dependency on the latter. The Open Terminal extension is now known to work great.

The compress function implementation is with the dropdown menu when you right-click. The old dialog for compressing folders opens, allowing fast-paced compressing of files.

The advantage of extended-actions over contractor is that, users now no longer have to download or install additional software to get Marlin to perform some basic routines. As the extension are pre-enabled and hence do not require manual enabling.

The Open Terminal Extension has some great useful features and makes for an interesting work on Marlin. Some of the other additional features include- Modal dialogs to highlight window properties, a better file previewing ability, and a feature to re-organize items on the toolbar. There is a customize Toolbar option as well to let personalize items to your requirements.

Other features like File Previewers provide a much required feature to let you preview files, without even opening them. You can gain this feature by opting for apps such as Gloobus Previe.

While Stable Release is a long way to go, Marlin steps towards completion are rapid. Marlin File Browser launch is a much awaited event that developer community is anticipating.

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