Can I revert to the Mountain Lion style labels instead of Mavericks tags? How?

Solution 1:

I have the same problem, and so do others: just search the Apple support discussions. The only solutions currently are:

• Reinstall OS X 10.8
• Install PathFinder, a third party patch that brings back labels
• If PF is too pricey, try asking binaryage (makers of TotalFinder) to also enable this feature, as TotalFinder is only $18, compared to Pathfinder at nearly $40.

There's also a few other semi-workarounds, like coloring folders using 3rd party tools (though this is tedious and only works for folders, not files)

And remember to tell Apple that you want labels back! If enough people speak out, they will change it.

Solution 2:

Good news for all that miss the color-backgrounds from 10.8 and below. The free Extension "XtraFinder" has a new Option in Version 0.19 called "Leagacy Color Label Painting" (in "Appearance") which brings back the color background for the finder in listmode.

Solution 3:

In fact that was the way labels behaved since System 7 (MacOS 7)

I really don't remember if they were present in System 6 though.

Solution 4:

Restoring coloured labels are a new feature in TotalFinder:

This feature mimics old Finder behaviour. I implemented this option because many people requested back colored labels from Mountain Lion.

Solution 5:

I too mourn the loss of the "labels" feature for the new "tags" action in Mavericks. My short term solution is to change the standard blue folder icon to a color icon that mimics the color scheme I used before. This at least puts the identifier to the left of the file name and stands out better. The example below uses colored circles for the folder icons.

If you aren't sure of how to change the folder icon this is a link to a tutorial screencast from the macmost.com website - MacMost Now 465: Creating Custom Folder and File Icons

There are several free sources for Mac icons. I've used the "Pixelmator" application and the "Img2icon" app to create a custom icon library.