Hi,
jetdriver, and welcome to the forums.
I have been using xplorer2 since before it existed, in the form of it's baby brother 2explorer, but I am not sure of what functionality you are looking for in Windows Explorer....
But you're right, my main grip with Windows Explorer is that it does not support dual pane - there is a lot of other features that Nikos has packed into his magnificent app, but that is primarily what I use it for.