The future of Windows Explorer...

[TheQwerty]

On the Building Windows 8 blog yesterday they did a post about some of the changes that might be made to Windows Explorer: Acting on File Management Feedback.

Nothing too exciting, but what I think may the more relevant bits:

The conflict prompt now offers the ability to skip items that have the same file name, size, and modified date - leaving you to select which file to keep when those don't all match.

They're improving how they deal with "system changes" during operations, such as switching from wireless to wired or pausing jobs when the machine sleeps/hibernates. (Has anyone ever tested how XY handles these types of events?)

Conflict/issue dialogs during an operation are being queued so they will show up at the start of the job or at the very end after Windows has completed as much of the job as possible.

It looks like Windows 8 will have the ability to sync your settings across devices or at least create a roaming profile that can be stored on the Internet. WE will make use of this to keep things like the window and toolbar layout in sync.

[admin]

Thanks for the link. Somebody is asking them for Multi Branch View. This guy knows what's good.

Generally it does not make too much sense to compare Explorer with alternative file managers (even if they are advertised as "Explorer replacements"). As part of the OS Explorer must aim to satisfy the average Windows user, whatever ghosty thing that is. Alternative file managers, however, can afford any amount of focus and thus offer powerful solutions to certain subsets of all Windows users, resp. to certain subsets of uses -- it's not uncommon for power users to employ more than one file manager.

[TheQwerty]

Generally it does not make too much sense to compare Explorer with alternative file managers...

Indeed, but it's interesting to see where and how they choose to improve WE, consider whether those changes might make sense in XY as well (as people do begin to expect them), and what openings they create for further improvement.

The items I highlighted above are all things that should probably be considered in XY, or more pointedly custom copy. Regarding the last, while XY is portable we've seen a few requests for the ability to sync certain settings more easily, so keeping that in mind it will also be interesting to see what APIs, if any, MS offers that might allow you to hook into the roaming profile.


Looking further I think it's clear you'll need to seriously consider adopting the ribbon, while the power users of today may scoff at it, the power users of tomorrow are not only appreciating it, but also coming to expect it.

[admin]

Generally it does not make too much sense to compare Explorer with alternative file managers...

Indeed, but it's interesting to see where and how they choose to improve WE, consider whether those changes might make sense in XY as well (as people do begin to expect them), and what openings they create for further improvement.

The items I highlighted above are all things that should probably be considered in XY, or more pointedly custom copy. Regarding the last, while XY is portable we've seen a few requests for the ability to sync certain settings more easily, so keeping that in mind it will also be interesting to see what APIs, if any, MS offers that might allow you to hook into the roaming profile.


Looking further I think it's clear you'll need to seriously consider adopting the ribbon, while the power users of today may scoff at it, the power users of tomorrow are not only appreciating it, but also coming to expect it.

Sure, I read this stuff with interest. I just look at some of the posters there with wonder, because they expect things from WE which can never happen in such a crowd-oriented application. Why don't they simply get an alternative FM? Either no money or, worse, they don't know that such things exist.

Conc. the ribbon: I will happily confine my efforts to pleasing the fraction of people that don't need the ribbon. TC, the incredibly dominant overwhelming overlord of file managers on this planet proves that success is not necessarily about the latest looks and controls.

[eil]

TC, the incredibly dominant overwhelming overlord of file managers on this planet proves that success is not necessarily about the latest looks and controls.

this just had to be quoted as a firm true.!

[j_c_hallgren]

TC, the incredibly dominant overwhelming overlord of file managers on this planet proves that success is not necessarily about the latest looks and controls.

this just had to be quoted as a firm true.!

Or as someone else said: "Windows 3.1 called and they want their FM back! So we gave em TC!"

[FeatureCreep]

WinExplorer will always be the lowest common denominator or the McDonald's cheeseburger of FM. And MS repeatedly treat their customers (and VB devs) with contempt. Like Henry Ford ("You can have any colour you want as long as it's black") they limit choice and remove support for established features people have come to rely on.

Why don't they simply get an alternative FM? Either no money or, worse, they don't know that such things exist.
Conc. the ribbon: I will happily confine my efforts to pleasing the fraction of people that don't need the ribbon.

Your second suggestion is probably the correct one: most WE users put up with it because they "don't know that such things [as XYplorer] exist" but I suspect more than a "fraction" of MS Office users hate the ribbon; or in the euphemisms of Microspeak:

"We had expected the introduction of the ribbon to Explorer to spur conversation, and it is fair to say the voluminous response was in line with our expectations. It’s exciting to work on something that brings so many different perspectives.
There were many reactions, and as we expected, there is a set of people who have an entirely negative reaction to the affordance and have been telling us about it in no uncertain terms. Our view is that we do need to move the user interface forward and accept that a vocal set of customers are just not happy with the direction we're going. "
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012 ... ected=true

A "set" of Windows users is a lot of people.

"Number of Windows 7 licenses sold" 150,000,000.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_bl ... mbers.aspx

We just gotta get the word out.

[admin]

We just gotta get the word out.

Yeah!

Recently I got a lot of idiots in different hangouts on the web "reviewing" XY to pieces. Might be an idea for the bored among you to post an updated review in the usual places...

[serendipity]

We just gotta get the word out.

Yeah!

Recently I got a lot of idiots in different hangouts on the web "reviewing" XY to pieces. Might be an idea for the bored among you to post an updated review in the usual places...

Could you point out these hangouts?

[admin]

We just gotta get the word out.

Yeah!

Recently I got a lot of idiots in different hangouts on the web "reviewing" XY to pieces. Might be an idea for the bored among you to post an updated review in the usual places...

Could you point out these hangouts?

They are obviously hate-driven and idiotic, but still I dislike to see them there for a long time:

http://download.cnet.com/XYplorer/3000- ... ?tag=mncol
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/XY ... 11575143/1
http://www.softpedia.com/progViewOpinio ... 2551,.html

[admin]

Thanks folks for the reviews! You know who you are.

[FeatureCreep]

If you want to help, I think this works. Some of the more Google-savvy members can correct me if I'm wrong. Instead of coming to this forum via a bookmark in your browser. Enter "file manager", "best file manager", "windows explorer replacement", or similar in your search box. Maybe even create a couple bookmarks for that purpose.

Scroll down and click on the entry for XYplorer.com (currently 14th for "file manager") and enter the forum via the XY homepage. Do this every time.

Reason:
1. Clicking on a link within search results raises its rank.
and/or
2. Clicking on a link within search results raises its "relevance" for the keywords (search terms) you used

Nobody but Google knows for sure as their algorithms are trade secrets. But I think this is widely suspected to be true among the SEO (search engine optimization) community. But it makes sense and follows the same Amazon type logic as "other people who liked (/bought) this also liked (/bought) these".
i.e. "other people who searched for "best file manager" found what they were looking for at xyplorer.com"

Background:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

http://www.warriorforum.com/adsense-ppc ... kings.html

Also:
Postings on sites like Delicious, Reddit, Digg, and Twitter may be more beneficial than the ones on software sites, especially for the all-important folk who "don't know that such things exist".

And:
Let the Bingbot in.

http://pagechecker.net/xyplorer.com

[admin]

Thanks!

Let the Bingbot in.

I'm not aware that I excluded it. I only excluded "Baidu Spider" which was totally misbehaving.

[FeatureCreep]

Maybe its a Bing thing?

P.S. Don't sweat about "hate-driven" or "idiotic" reviews, Don. XYplorer is the intelligent choice for knowledge workers. Intelligent folk can easily spot reviews from idiots/trolls/competitors and ignore them.

[admin]

Maybe its a Bing thing?

P.S. Don't sweat about "hate-driven" or "idiotic" reviews, Don. XYplorer is the intelligent choice for knowledge workers. Intelligent folk can easily spot reviews from idiots/trolls/competitors and ignore them.

Yes, but I also want to sell to the dumb.