Microsoft Highlights Windows 8 File Management Improvements

Posted by ison Wednesday, February 1, 2012 2 comments

File management is and always will be an essential task for all computer users. It includes file storage, accessibility and visibility among other things. Microsoft in a new blog post on the official Building Windows 8 blog has highlighted file management changes of the upcoming operating system. You probably know already that Microsoft intents to improve file management processes in Windows 8. This includes a better way to resolve conflicts. Conflicts occur for instance when you try to copy a file into a directory where the file name is already occupied by another file. Windows 8 adds visual information, e.g. thumbnails if you are moving photos to a new file conflict screen to give users more control over the process.

file conflicts 580x652 Microsoft Highlights Windows 8 File Management Improvements

Windows 8 systems benefit from faster network throughput, for instance when you start a copying job over Wi-Fi and later on plug in a network cable. Jobs furthermore will automatically pause if the computer enters sleep or hibernation modes. The job can be resumed once the machine wakes again.

One of the many changes to Windows Explorer is the file manager’s ability to respect EXIF orientation, which means that you will always see your photos in the right orientation on the screen.

windows explorer exif orientation Microsoft Highlights Windows 8 File Management Improvements

The padlock icon has been removed from Windows Explorer as it was causing delays in the file manager. They have been replaced by a sharing status column that is now displayed in the file browser.

Another new addition is the ability to pin folders to Start. This feature is accessible under the Easy Access menu in Windows Explorer’s new ribbon interface. It is furthermore possible to pin executables to the Start menu as well.

pin to start 580x386 Microsoft Highlights Windows 8 File Management Improvements

Please note that when I say Start, it means the Metro UI interface and not the original Windows Start Menu.

The announcement that Windows Explorer would ship with a ribbon interface has caused quite the controversy among users of the Windows operating system. Microsoft as a response has decided to minimize the ribbon interface in the Windows 8 beta release by default.

"Ribbon minimized by default: With the ribbon maximized in the Developer Preview, we’ve been able to learn a lot about how people interact with it, which has enabled us to tweak and fine-tune it. With the beta, we will be making a major change that brings Explorer in line with our design principles for Windows 8. As in our copy dialogs, Task Manager, and Metro style experiences, we will be reducing distractions and trusting users to discover functionality on their own, by minimizing the ribbon by default."

windows 8 minimized ribbon 580x386 Microsoft Highlights Windows 8 File Management Improvements

According to an internal non representative study “heavier” Windows Explorer users make use of the Ribbon more often than lighter users. Users who prefer to work with a minimized ribbon interface on the other hand had a strong preference for hotkeys. To further encourage the use of hotkeys, Microsoft has added tooltips to many functions in Windows Explorer that highlight their hotkey.

windows explorer hotkeys 580x387 Microsoft Highlights Windows 8 File Management Improvements

Personalized Windows Explorer settings, like a maximized ribbon bar or actions in the Quick Access Toolbar, are now synchronized via Windows 8′s roaming feature.

The majority of changes make sense from a user perspective. Especially the ability to synchronize Windows Explorer customizations with other PCs running the operating system is an excellent option. What’s your take on the changes?

source: windows8news.com