When comparing ROX Desktop vs Double Commander, the Slant community recommends Double Commander for most people. In the question“What are the best file managers for UNIX-like systems?” Double Commander is ranked 4th while ROX Desktop is ranked 24th. The most important reason people chose Double Commander is:
You can use same tool in all desktop OS environments.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Fast
Programs open noticeably faster with ROX Desktop than with most other Desktop Environments.
Pro Official packages for major distributions
ROX can be built from source like many other solutions or can be installed from official packages available for all the major distributions (Debian, Fedora, Gentoo, openSUSE, Mandriva and Slackware).
Pro Singular load/save dialog
Instead of learning and navigating a multitude of file dialogs, simply drag and drop files between your app and your folders.
Pro Multi-platform (Linux, Windows, MacOS X)
You can use same tool in all desktop OS environments.
Pro Source code is available (true free software)
If the developer loses interest there is at least the possibility that someone else will pick up the torch.
Pro Configurable
Lots of options allow you to configure DC the way it suits you best: Tools, Fonts, Colors, Hotkeys, Mouse, Fileviews, Plugins, Layout, Toolbars, Tabs, Icons etc.
Pro Directory Hotlist
Save shortcuts to folders. Organize them in a treeview with submenus. Define a name and sorting for each entry.
Pro Powerful tcmd-like search tool (alt+F7)
Pro tcmd-like multi-rename tool (CTRL+M)
Pro DC uses TCmd plugin API
so you can use documentation from Total Commander for writing plugins. WCX (packer), WDX (content), WFX (file system), WLX (lister).
Pro Closely follows TotalCommander UX
For instance, the 'Settings | Layout' pane is quasi-identical to TCs.
Pro Very sophisticated
Although it is lightweight and simple to use, it can do very sophisticated tasks, like copying files from directories which have a certain extension or file size or have a certain text pattern in them. Also, it's very customizable and stable.
Pro It's that good, you can replace tcmd on windows too
Pro Source code written in (Object) PASCAL
It's all a matter of perspective. I'm not for an argument about IDE's, frameworks etc, but to me that's a big plus. I think it should be a tie, it's either a pro or a con or should that be neither a pro nor a con. It just depends on context.
Cons
Con Discontinued
discontinued since years, only the filemanager, the terminal and zeroinstall are still developed
Con Very ugly UI
Con Redundant default configuration
Because speed is one of the main points and objectives of ROX, the default configuration can be redundant for some and it's design also makes a lot of assumptions on how users prefer to work.
Con Apparently only one developer
Con Freeze after mouse double-click on directory list item
Con Much slower on Linux and Mac than on Windows
Con Source code written in Pascal language
But this does not affect users negatively. It's just programmers problem.