How do you get Mac OS Finder to group folders together when sorting?

I have Mac OS 10.7.4 and I'd like Finder to use "Is Folder?" as its first sort criteria, or in other words, group folders before files regardless of the sorting method.

Windows and Linux both do this by default.

Finder > Preferences > Advanced > Keep folders on top when sorting by name

Before macOS 10.12 Sierra, this wasn't an option.

Before 10.12, Finder just didn't have a "group the folders" at the top/bottom. There are legions of Mac users that put all sorts of characters in their folder names so that they sort above or below when sorted by name.

There are all sorts of hacky ways to manipulate the "kind" strings internally, but then everything is arranged by kind first, and secondarily alphabetically.

If this is a deal breaker - check out the many apps that run in place of the Finder. Here is a query to get you started:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/search?q=finder+replacement

On macOS Sierra, there is a way to group folders together. Launch the Finder. Then head to Finder > Preferences in the menu bar. Head to Advanced and check the option 'Keep folders on top when sorting by name'.