I was virtually stunned by this. Being a Windows user all my life I was so sure Mac would have this useful feature but it did not – the rename files feature has long been implemented on Windows. It works like this.
When you move a file that’s going to be duplicated, Windows system asks you if you want to Rename it or let Windows give it a default name — in which case it adds an ‘_numeric’ to it.
Mac does have this auto-rename feature but only for its Downloads. For instance you downloaded a file using the Safari browser, it defaults the name to ‘_numeric’ if a duplicate file is found. That is a boon because users download a whole lot of stuff and don’t want to be bugged by dialog boxes asking for renaming/replacements or whatever.
But here’s where the goodness is soured. If you use Finder to move a bunch of duplicate files across 2 folders, Mac just gives you 3 options – Don’t Replace, Stop and Replace. There’s no ‘Rename File(s)’ option available! I fail to understand this but my hunch is that this nifty feature might have been patented by Windows. For whatever reason, it’s a basic choice which Mac just could not have ignored.
I have posted my feedback to Apple and hopefully they will include it in their next release Snow Leopard. Looking at current times when content creation and warehousing are mere necessities, empowering the user with features that streamline the processing of his/her data would always be welcomed.
I agree, this should have been built in. Although Windows has it, it isn’t as powerful as it should have been. At least in XP.
For mac, I’ve heard good things about this – http://www.manytricks.com/namemangler/ but I’ve never tried it myself.