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Altap Salamander, despite its name, is not an amphibian. In fact, it doesn't have anything in common with any living thing, apart from being used by humans to make their lives easier. Now, let's reveal the truth, because I don't want to waste your time, and mine...

Formerly known as Servant Salamander, Altap Salamander is a file manager for Windows that was born in 1996 and was released as a shareware program using the current name in 2001. These being said, let's find out more about this program, as always...


Setup

Released on the 27th of April, the last version of Altap Salamander is labeled 2.5. Its setu package weighs 5.5MB, being very easy to install, as you can see in the screenshots below. The shareware version available for download on the official site has all the features of the registered program, but you have to wait a few seconds when starting it, because a shareware reminder appears every time until you purchase a registration code of the trial period ends.

Interface

Altap Salamander uses the classical two-pane interface, like Norton Commander, Total Commander and all the other similar programs, but it's highly customizable, being even more flexible than Total Commander, in my opinion. Compared to Directory Opus or Total Commander, what we have here looks slightly outdated, but it's very easy to use, and that's what really matters, in the end, because you're not going to watch this program, but use it.


Features

When I encounter a new file manager, what matters the most to me are its features, and this time there's a lot to talk about. To be honest, I have no idea where to start...

Well, I'll start with the plugins, because this is one of the strongest parts of this program. Apart from being able to extend the features of Altap Salamander anytime you find a new plugin for it that may suit your purposes, you can take advantage of a very useful pack of built in plugins.

From unpacking to viewing multimedia files, everything seems to be covered. For example, the image viewer plugin is an excellent solution, as you can see in the second screenshot below. Of course that it doesn't end here - FTP connections, encryption/decryption, a tool for taking screenshots...they are all here!

Altap Salamander also has a few predefined color schemes, an interesting option that allows you to set you skill level, so the complexity of the menus will be reduced, and you'll be able to learn the basics first.

As usual, this is only a sneak peak. To get a better view, check this program for yourselves, I can guarantee that Altap Salamander is worth your time.


The Good

This program is fast, has a low memory footprint, an impressive amount of features and is also highly customizable. Its price is very good, too.

The Bad

Should I say that the interface is one step behind Total Commander? Well, that's my opinion, but other than that, I can't say anything bad about Altap Salamander.

Conclusion

I won't drop Total Commander yet, but I must confess that Altap Salamander almost managed to lead me into temptation. If you're not using a serious file manager yet, choosing between Total Commander and Altap Salamander could be a really tough choice, and there is no right decision to take. In the end, it all gets down to your personal preferences.

Developer: ALTAP Ltd.
Price: 30$
Trial Link: Download