In the first part of this article series I wrote about what I consider failings in explorer and problems that date back to Windows 98. Explorer is a bit of a problem in Windows 7. It’s simply not moved on enough from the software we’ve used in the past and, given that we spend so much of our time using it, these usability issues should have been rectified by now.
With Windows 7, Microsoft introduced Libraries to help us find and organise our files and folders more effectively. It’s a bit of a half-way house though. In principle the idea is fantastic. You can aggregate files and folders on your hard drive, for instance all your photos and organise them by tags (metadata).
This assumes that the average user has all their files tagged and, indeed, knows how to do it. Microsoft have really missed a trick with this. If you think back to Windows 95, Microsoft became the king of the wizard. Popping up everywhere, literally, were excellent wizards and utilities for doing almost everything. Microsoft could easily release a wizard or two to help users tag their files at any stage, it would not have to be bundled with Windows 7. This useful addition is sadly lacking though.
The biggest criticism Libraries have come under though is that you can only add folders to them. You can filter the content by file type, date or author. This simple functionality would take the feature to new heights of usefulness. It would literally transform the way people organise their files.
Which brings me on to one last point. There’s a big focus I’m talking about here about aggregated storage, finding your files wherever they have been stored. Since Windows XP though Microsoft have been making it easy, and actively encouraging us to store our files in the right places to begin with. The Documents, Pictures etc. folder structure and the way they are accessed, especially with the favourite links pane and breadcrumb bar in Vista have been intended to make life much simpler for users. Is this new move towards aggregated storage an admission from Microsoft that it hasn’t worked?
