Although I like a lot about ForkLift3, I had to ditch it eventually because its inability to set different view settings for different windows drove me insane.
Finder does allow this so, for example, I can have my ~/Downloads and ~/Pictures/Screengrabs folders set to always display in list view sorted by most recent [so the latest download or screengrab ia always at the top] whilst displaying other folders, such as /Applications in column view and alphabetically because I look for things in there by name.
My favourite Finder tip:
when saving a file and you want to base its name on an existing one, eg: myimage01.jpg, myimage02.jpg, myimage03.jpg... etc. Click on one of the existing files in the save dialogue and the untitled one you're about to save will adopt that name. Then you just change the last digit [or whatever] and save.
Favourite not particularly OSX specific tip: When including a date in your filenames, put it at the start in YYYY-MM-DD somefilename format. that way, sorting the column of files by name, also correctly sorts them by date.
Favourite not yet mentioned OSX utility: A Better Finder Rename [0] --bulk file renaming with more options and combinations than you can shake a stick at.
Favourite not yet mentioned OSX app: TextMate [1] --what Sublime Text hopes to be when it grows up!
ForkLift is something that keeps my sanity.
Has Windows stopped polluting the world with Thumbs_db files? I hate when I see those things on a server.
I suspect you might be deleting the .DS_Store files, which would have a side effect of resetting your configuration.
Also, Finder doesn't do cut, you hold down ⌥ when pasting to move it rather than make a copy. And since it draws your desktop icons, it's supposed to stay running–that's why "Quit Finder" menu is hidden by default.
I do a lot of stuff on the commandline, I don't really need an advanced graphical file manager. If necessary, I open an additional Finder window for more complex manoeuvres.
I wonder if there are people who, like me, come from Desktop Linux to macOS and kept working like that.
The author mentions this among several other Finder alternatives, of which they prefer Path Finder.