When comparing Nautilus (AKA Gnome Files) vs Konqueror, the Slant community recommends Nautilus (AKA Gnome Files) for most people. In the question“What are the best GUI file managers for UNIX-like systems?” Nautilus (AKA Gnome Files) is ranked 9th while Konqueror is ranked 12th. The most important reason people chose Nautilus (AKA Gnome Files) is:
On recent versions of GNOME, you can click the Files entry in the panel to access the a specific location (remote or local), connect to a certain server (FTP, SFTP, SAMBA, etc.), access your bookmarks, open a new window, as well as to change its default functionality.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Allows you to access remote or local locations
On recent versions of GNOME, you can click the Files entry in the panel to access the a specific location (remote or local), connect to a certain server (FTP, SFTP, SAMBA, etc.), access your bookmarks, open a new window, as well as to change its default functionality.
Pro Widely supported
The program is distributed as a single source archive, which can be configured, compiled and installed on almost any Linux flavor. There are no binary files for a specific Linux distribution, but you can install it directly from the default software channels of your operating system.
Pro Google drive integration
Pro Easy to use and familiar user interface for Ubuntu users
The user interface of Files is very familiar to Ubuntu users, most probably because Canonical still uses Nautilus (an old version of it) as the default file manager for its world’s most popular free operating system, Ubuntu Linux.
It split into two parts, a sidebar and the main file viewer. While you already know what the latter can do for you, the sidebar offers quick access to Places, Devices and Network locations, as well as any other bookmarks that you can add whenever you want.
Pro Convenient file moving progress
Nautilus shows the progress of file move operations in the top right. This doesn't get in your way. You can keep using the window while the operation is progressing.
Pro Fully supports DPI
Pro Amazing file manager integration
Konqueror can also work as a file manager and it does a great job at that. You can view both local or remote files (through FTP, SSH, SFTP, and Samba protocol).
Pro Low footprint in KDE
Konqueror usually has a low footprint when used in KDE because most of the resources needed are already loaded. This makes the startup time and general loading times between commands very fast compared to other browsers in KDE.
Cons
Con Mostly unconfigurable
There are not many ways to configure Nautilus to fit your needs. Besides what can be seen in the settings button you can't configure it further.
Con Gradually losing its features
Unlike most software, where new features are added over time, Nautilus (along with other Gnome applications) tends to lose features, and for unclear reasons.
Con Doesn't support "open as root"
Con No Tree View option any more
This is a crucial feature for my daily work with a file manager and without a Tree View option a file manager seems pointless to me.
The reason for dropping this feature is weird. Quoted from here:
"It is the list view after all. Tree models don't work well on
touch and it isn't consistent with the file chooser."
Con Slow
Seems to be one of few file managers that can take several seconds to open.
Con Comes with a ton of dependencies
Con Lacks incognito/private mode
Konqueror lacks the option to browse the web in private mode, which is used when you don't want to leave any search history or avoid saving any cookies or cached data.
Con No large extension support
Konqueror is unable to tap into the large collection of Chrome extensions like many other browsers do. So the options to extend Konqueror's functionality are pretty limited.