What to expect from Windows 7

Part 4

Windows Explorer and search

So, who remembers File Manager? You know, that Windows 3.1 utility? Looked like what you’d get if a DOS directory listing mated with VisiCalc?

It’s gone. Deal with it.

Windows Explorer has been evolving for nearly 15 years from its early roots as a disk and file browser. Today, it’s a multipurpose host capable of displaying all sorts of content, not just files. The biggest change is an insistence on using namespaces that aren’t tied to a hierarchy with some sort of disk device at the top.

This emphasis is embodied in the new-style Navigation Bar. If you’re used to seeing a single folder tree in XP and Vista, you might be lost until you figure out what those four or five nodes are all about. Yes, you can customize the Favorites links at the top of the pane with shortcuts to locations you visit regularly. And yes, you can browse local disks in the Computer node and shared folders under the Network heading. (We’ll get to Homegroup later.)

The really big change in Windows 7 is the addition of libraries, which occupy a place of honor in the middle of the Navigation pane. Libraries are virtual folders, defined by snippets of XML in a well-hidden part of your user profile. When you add a folder or shared network drive to a library, it remains in its location in the file system—in other words, the path is unchanged—but its contents appear in the library, where you can open, change, and delete files just as if they were in the actual folder where they’re stored. If you search, your search goes across all the locations in the library (including shared network folders) and returns a consolidated set of results.

Libraries in the file system are intimately tied to libraries in Windows Media Player and Media Center as well. By default, the Music library contains files from the music folder in your profile and from the Public Music folder. If you have more music files in a shared folder on a Windows Home Server, you can add that location to the library and all your music files, local and network, will appear in Media Player, Media Center, and the Music library in Windows Explorer.

The big questions for Microsoft are twofold: First, will Windows users be able to get past the initial conceptual hurdle of understanding what libraries are? Judging by the queries I get, this could be a training issue. And second, will corporate customers find a use for this feature? One gotcha to be aware of: Locations in a library must be indexed. In practice, that means you’re limited to local and shared folders running on Windows machines that support Windows Search. You won’t be able to add a location on a Linux machine or a NAS device to a library, at least not in the original release of Windows 7.

The other change that takes Windows 7’s Explorer well beyond its File Manager roots is a tight integration with Windows Search. In a nod to usability, Vista’s clunky and awkward Advanced Search pane is gone. It’s replaced by a more subtle interface that uses search filters in the search box in the upper right corner of any Windows Explorer window. (I’ve included some examples in the gallery that accompanies this post.)

Search in the Start menu is greatly improved as well. When you click Start and enter a word or phrase in the search box, your results come back neatly categorized. Each of the category headings is a live link—clicking one opens that search in Windows Explorer so you can see the full set of results. That simple change makes Start menu searches the preferred way to find stuff, in my experience. If you’re looking for an e-mail message, you can enter a term, click the Outlook heading in the search results list, and refine your search from there.

In the gallery: Windows Explorer at a glance, customizing the Navigation bar, using libraries, and two ways to search

Source: http://blogs.zdnet.com