Installation
On Ubuntu, you can install via the following PPA: You might also want to install the Marlin plugins for Dropbox and UbuntuOne Once installed, you can right click on any folder and select “Open with Marlin File Manager”.
Usage
The first impression of opening Marlin is that: it is fast. Usually when I open Nautilus, it will take about 3 -5 seconds, even on a high-end PC, to open. On the other hand, Marlin opens up instantly. To me, the speed difference is noticeable and significant.
On the left pane is the “Places” menu where it lists the main directory and mounted devices. Unlike Nautilus, there is no Bookmarks feature where you can save your frequently accessed folders, but the menu is collapsible so you can hide the places you don’t want to see.
Marlin supports “Open In Tab” feature and you can color tagged each file and folder to distinguish them from the rest.
One of the things that work right out of the box is the ability to right-click on a file or folder and select “Open in Terminal”. This is one function that I use very frequently and I am glad it is built right into Marlin. Personally, I find the toolbar rather well-organized and slick, but in case you don’t like it, you can reorder the icons and add/remove icon to/from the toolbar.
When it comes to the configuration section, it doesn’t seems to have as many options as Nautilus. There are only three tabs: Behavior, Display and Extensions. Under the Behavior tab, you can choose whether to single-click to open file, mouse auto-selection speed, use modal window for Properties dialog (the window that pop up when you right click a file and select “Properties”) and to set it as the default file manager.
This is what you will see for the Properties dialog window:
The Display section allows you to customize the sidebar icon size and the date display format. Nothing too special here.
Lastly, the Extensions section is where you activate the installed plugins. Currently, there are only two plugins available: Dropbox and UbuntuOne.
Preview Files in Marlin
If you have installed Gloobus-Preview, you can also get it to work in Marlin. Here are the steps: Press Alt + F2 and type dconf-editor. In the dconf-editor, navigate to “apps -> marlin -> preferences“. Under the “previewer-path”, enter:
Press Enter, and exit the dconf-editor.
Conclusion
If you prefer a lightweight, slick and fast file manager, I would definitely recommend Marlin. I have always used Nautilus, not because it is the best, but because it is the default in Gnome. After using Marlin, I have not looked back at Nautilus anymore. Try it out and let us know if you like Marlin.
