Introduction

Welcome to Directory Opus, the file manager and Explorer Replacement for Windows.

Directory Opus is designed with four goals in mind:

• Ease of use: As far as possible, Opus (in its default configuration) works just like Explorer does. You don't have to learn any complicated scripting or non-standard mouse techniques to use Opus. If you've ever used Explorer to copy a file, you already know exactly how to do it in Opus as well.
• Configurability: We believe in the user's right to choose how their computer operates. You'll find that almost every aspect of Opus can be changed - from the buttons on the toolbar to the color used to draw the background of a compressed file. Of course you don't have to configure anything if you don't want to - "out of the box" Opus provides a comprehensive set of commands that will let you perform most file management tasks without ever going near the configuration.
• Efficiency: Opus is designed to be as efficient as possible. The entire program makes use of multi-threading to ensure that you should never have to wait for one operation to complete before beginning another.
• Compatibility: As an Explorer Replacement it's important that Opus appears (to the system) just like Explorer does. Within the limits set by Microsoft, Opus achieves this and most software written with only Explorer in mind should still work fine with Opus installed.

There's no denying that Opus is a complex product. From its roots on the Amiga computer in 1989, through two platforms and ten major revisions, the program has grown as we have taken on board thousands of suggestions from our users. As you start to explore Opus you may feel daunted by the sheer number of options available - please don't be! Don't look on Opus as something that has to be learned, but as a tool that you can exploit.

We class Opus as "productivity software" and some people question this description, but really if you think about it - for anyone who uses their computer a significant amount, a large proportion of that time is spent in mundane tasks like moving files around, making folders, renaming files, cleaning out directories, etc. Using Opus you can significantly streamline your day-to-day tasks - and less time spent on the mundane means more time to be productive!

As you start to explore Opus here are a few tips to help you get around:

• All the toolbar buttons and menu commands have popup tooltips that describe what they do. If you ever want to know what a command is for, just hover over it with the mouse for a couple of seconds.
• The Preferences and Customize dialogs (the two dialogs where most configuration options can be found) both have filter fields at the bottom, that let you search for options matching your keywords.
• All the dialogs have context-sensitive help. Some dialogs (like Preferences) have a help button in the top-right corner, but in all other dialogs you can press the F1 key to display the help.
• If you have time, have a quick read through the topics in the Basic Concepts section of this help file. Opus supports the same basic file management concepts as Explorer but this section describes some of the extra functionality that can really help you get the most out of Opus.
• The Opus Resource Centre is a wealth of hints, tips, FAQs, tutorials and knowledgeable Opus users.

Thanks for using Directory Opus! We hope you enjoy using it as much as we enjoy writing it!