Ironic Software recently released the Leap public beta, an alternative to the OS X Finder. I downloaded the 1.0 Beta 5 and thought I would share my thoughts about it with you.

Main Window

When you launch Leap, the main window appears. It is not unlike iPhoto ‘08. There is a sidebar (similar to the one found in the Leopard finder,) a second sidebar dedicated mainly to ‘tags,’ and the main workspace, where the results from your criteria appear.

The sidebar list lists ways you can view your documents. For instance, you canview all ‘Flagged documents,’ or only show Keynote slideshows. Alternatively, you can view documents in places, such as your home folder or desktop. You can search your entire computer or home folder, or view documents by time frame. The sidebar is customizable: amazingly so, allowing the user to set criteria and add or remove file types or places.

The tags sidebar displays all the tags that leap finds from what you chose in the first sidebar. Once you choose your search criteria from the sidebar, and (optionally) choose a tag, your documents will appear in the documents panel. You can change how large the previews of the documents are by using the iPhoto-esque zoom slider.

You can also change how you see the results (much like changing how you view files in a folder, in the real Finder.) The view choices are list form, a preview of the documents, or previews of the documents separated into categories.

Loupe

Leap comes with a great loupe feature. Simply click the ‘Loupe’ button in the bottom left corner of the main window, then mouse over a document result. The part of the document that is under your mouse is magnified.

When it comes to actually doing something with the document you found using the search criteria, Leap has a very simple, easy-to-use set of features, in an area similar to iPhoto.

You can open the actual document (in the screenshot above, a PDF) in its default program (in this case, Preview) or quickly print, email, or reveal its location in the Finder. You can add/edit tags that can be searchable later, get info on the file, hide it from the results, or flag it to find it easily later. There’s also a ‘Move to Trash’ button.

Power Tagging

Move your mouse to the right side of your screen and a bezel-style window will slide out.

If you drag a document to said bezel, it will open a window where you can enter tags that will be recognized by Leap.

The one problem with this is that if you keep your dock on the right side of the screen, the bezel and dock interfere with each other. There seems to be no preference thus far to change the orientation of the tag bezel.

Final Thoughts

Leap is a very intuitive, easy-to-use application. Its style, simplicity, and powerful features make it very enjoyable to use. I can’t myself using it as a complete alternative to the Finder, but for may tasks it could be invaluable. Get the Leap Public Beta here.