More fun with File Explorer

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WINDOWS 11 By Will Fastie Windows File Explorer is getting a major overhaul in Windows 11. The most significant change is a new tabbed user interface,
[See the full post at: More fun with File Explorer]

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ibe98765, Norio, rc primak, lmacri, rbailin, abbodi86

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But why?

Let’s speculate. IMO, Windows needs an overhaul ‘under the hood’. The thing in Windows I hate most is the ridiculous permission system. Going from a Novell NetWare server to a Windows NT4 server was a shock. Especially for the permissions. In NetWare, you set permissions for a file or folder by adding a group or person to that file / folder and then a row with check marks for the different permissions appears. Simply put a check mark for ‘allow’ and leave out the check mark for deny. And oh, the setting is inherited for all folders beneath. Want  to change the permission to a folder a couple of levels deeper? Same procedure. Simple.

And then Windows. It starts with two check mark columns – Deny and Allow. Why? There’s an elaborate explanation. To me, if you have to explain something that simple, you did it wrong. And then inheritance. No, you can’t change permissions somewhere in the folder tree. You first need to switch on inheritance. Why? It doesn’t make sense. It’s a stupid design, but why? There’s plenty of file systems using a simple and elegant permission system, like Novell displayed. So why did Microsoft decide to create such an un-intuitive system?

Back to topic – I think Microsoft is not willing to invest into Windows to weed out all the quirks, bugs and peculiarities – too risky. What’s left is cosmetics. Pull open a can of interns and let them toy with the looks.

The big question is – how to get Microsoft to do what’s needed to create a better Windows instead of better windows-dressing? There must be companies out there with tens of thousands of Windows pc’s who get fed up with this needless stuff, so why don’t they raise the flag?

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Norio, Toa Of Justice

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Unix had the same simple file & folder permissions originally, but then added ACL – Access Control Lists – to allow more flexibility: multiple specific users, multiple groups, among others. It was arcane and confusing with its own set of commands, but I didn’t mind because I could completely ignore it 99% of the time and use the original permissions system, easily viewed with ls -l

And on a related note, maybe one day we’ll see a straightforward way to gain true root access to windows when Administrator access just doesn’t cut it in explorer.

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rbailin wrote:

And on a related note, maybe one day we’ll see a straightforward way to gain true root access to windows when Administrator access just doesn’t cut it in explorer.

Process Hacker 2 using “Run as trusted installer”.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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rbailin

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Ah, change for the sake of change.  Utterly useless.

I probably would use some kind of 3rd party software product to get by all this disrupted mess.  Anybody know of any good ones to suggest?

Moderator Note: Post fetched from the spam bucket. Please check your IP before posting to avoid the spam bucket.

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I’ve been using Total Commander for decades (from back when it was called Windows Commander, before they got a cease-and-desist from Micro$oft).  It’s a dual-pane interface, which I like and others may not (I started with Norton Commander, so I’m wedded to it), and I can do everything from the keyboard without needing the mouse.  And they don’t add or remove features without telling you first, or asking for feedback.  And right-clicking on a file brings up the old context menus.  And they’re pretty lackadaisical about licensing.  I had to go out of my way to purchase extra licenses.

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Ironically, the standard footer for your article is the old style:

and the link https://www.askwoody.com/newsletter/whatchanged-portable-whats-happening-under-there/FORUMLINK results in a 404 Page not found

Fortunately, AskWoody is consistent in their forum link format, so I was able to manually go to https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/more-fun-with-file-explorer/

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rizzquery, rc primak, Will Fastie

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“And here all this time I thought it was just me.” — Jack Soo as Yemana in Barney Miller.

-- rc primak

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Will Fastie

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I’m still using the Windows 7 Explorer.  The “+” for tabs is there, but I don’t use tabs, and the “+” is not in my way.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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gwt10

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rbailin wrote:

Ironically, the standard footer for your article is the old style:

Ouch. I’ll fix it online. Thanks for poking me.

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bbearren wrote:

I’m still using the Windows 7 Explorer.

And, as I’ve written, I leave Windows 11 alone (mostly).

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rc primak

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For a moment I though a lot of these comments about bad interface design and changes for no good reason were describing Linux Mint Cinnamon.

A lot of Desktop Environments lately have been changed around just for the sake of change, with the changes dribbling in with each point-update. It’s not just Windows 11.

-- rc primak

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Cybertooth

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rc primak wrote:

It’s not just Windows 11.

I’m for unified, well-designed changes. I’m against changes just so the vendor, any vendor, can put “New” on the press materials.

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rc primak, Cybertooth

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Norio wrote:

Total Commander

I love that at the bottom of the download page is a section called “Still using Windows 3.1?” And with the download link right there. I wonder how many downloads he gets for that?

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Norio wrote:

I’ve been using Total Commander for decades

I am using free portable Q-Dir four-pane interface

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Microsoft ordered a design refresh (i.e., Fluent Design) and the developers struggled to make a change where no change was actually needed.

SOOO true.  And so F’d up.

They have moved to subscription for the apps (and getting there with the OS?).  They ARE getting a steady stream of money.

Why waste time / effort on ‘changes’ rather than ‘improvements’?

For years, people would ask me if they should get the newer version of office.  I’d say all they did was move things around.

80 / 20 rule – 80% of people use 20% of an app.  No one I deal with uses even 20% of things in word / excel, etc.  Back then, microsoft had to do something to make the newer version seem different / worthwhile.  Now that we are paying monthly, focus on the quality / security of a product. Not these stupid changes just for the sake of change.

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rc primak, windbg, Cybertooth

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The best file manager ever was XTree,  Microsoft should have just copied that.

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ZTree ZTreeWin is a fine ‘clone’ of XTree

http://www.ztree.com/index.html

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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