Mo2

[jsonger47]

I have tried over and over to get Vortex to work like MO2.

I mean as a standalone program that does not touch Skyrim files.

And i have paid attention and look at videos,read help I guess really it is just meant to replace NMM which does same as vortex install files in game folders and not uninstall all of those.

[HadToRegister]

Not really sure what you're talking about?
But I'll guess what you're wanting is a Virtual File System like MO2 where nothing is put in the DATA folder?

Vortex does that, but it uses "Hardlinks" meaning the mods look like they're in the folder because they use virtual links

If you're comfortable with MO2 by all means continue to use it, if you've got a good setup running with it.
It's made by the same person who wrote Vortex

[rmm200]

Several real benefits of Vortex over MO2:

Big one is that Vortex does not need to be running after you install mods. The hard links are persistent.

Another is that the hard links can be removed with the press of a button - the Purge button. A minute or so and your game directory is squeeky clean.

And to get all your mods back: Click Deploy. Very quickly, all your mods are back.

There are a lot of other benefits, like conflict management, which are best learned elsewhere.

Final big one is Vortex is under active development. Bugs get fixed quickly. MO 2 - not so much. And look at the number of games Vortex supports, compared to MO 2.