File Explorer gets facelift in latest Windows 11 build
- Reference: 1686254468
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/06/08/microsoft_file_explorer_update/
- Source link:
In the latest Windows 11 build released this week to the Dev Channel, Redmond is including an updated File Explorer Home, address bar and search box, and a new feature first previewed in March designed to make it easier for some users to find the most relevant file.
As with most features in the Dev Channel, the new ones for File Explorer in Windows 11 Insider Preview [1]Build 23475 are not available to all Insiders. Microsoft engineers plan to let some developers play around with it and give feedback for a decision whether to release them to all Insiders, the company wrote.
[2]
The new look for File Explorer – which is more consistent with that of Windows 11 – comes after the file manager application was shifted to the [3]Windows App SDK , a collection of developer components and tools that came out in March as the new desktop app development platform for Windows 11 and Windows 10 version 1809 and later.
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The aim is to give developers a unified set of APIs and tools for a more consistent development approach.
The updated File Explorer Home – essentially the landing site for File Explorer – is powered by the [6]Windows UI Library (WinUI), a user framework for Windows desktop and Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps. There are two generations of WinUI, the first being WinUI 2 for UWP and the second WinUI 3 in the Windows App SDK.
[7]Microsoft Windows edges closer to SMB security signing fully required by default
[8]Microsoft Windows latest: Cortana app out, adverts in
[9]Microsoft embraces Apple Mac loyalists – as long as they're using its software
[10]Windows driver woes trip AMD GPU owners, blind Arm-powered cameras
The Recommended File feature will be available to those signed into Windows with an Azure Active Directory (AAD) account, with the files recommended being cloud files associated with the account.
Recommended files "will be displayed as a carousel and support file thumbnails which is coming soon," wrote Amanda Langowski, principal product manager for the Windows Insider Program, and Brandon LeBlanc, senior program manager at Microsoft. "Quick Access folders (available by default for users signed into Windows with a Microsoft account), Favorites, and Recent also bring in an updated experience with WinUI."
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Redmond is additionally adding a newer address bar that can recognize which files are local and which are in the cloud, including letting OneDrive users about their sync status and quota flyout.
That said, there are some known issues arising with the enhanced File Explorer, including that it might crash when users drag the scroll bar or try to close the window if there is an extended file-loading process running.
There are also a number of known issues with File Explorer Home. One is that users navigating the Recommended sections with the tab key could see explorer.exe crash. In addition, when they move from one group to the Recommended section using a keyboard, the focus doesn't appropriately appear on the group header or files.
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Also, "in case of an authentication error on File Explorer Home, the 'Please Sign-in' button appears but clicking on it does not pop-up the authentication dialog," Langowski and LeBlanc wrote. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2023/06/07/announcing-windows-11-insider-preview-build-23475/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZIJPfubQ7slMV16uBIkCUwAAAJI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/windows-app-sdk/#benefits-of-the-windows-app-sdk-for-windows-developers
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZIJPfubQ7slMV16uBIkCUwAAAJI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZIJPfubQ7slMV16uBIkCUwAAAJI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/winui/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/06/microsoft_smb_signing_default/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/02/microsoft_cortana_ads/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/01/microsoft_apple_mac_community/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/30/microsoft_amd_arm_drivers/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZIJPfubQ7slMV16uBIkCUwAAAJI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZIJPfubQ7slMV16uBIkCUwAAAJI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The Recommended File feature
NO!!!! Just NO!!!!!
I get that shit already whenever I open an email attachment on Outlook for Android (No choice, a work phone and account). EVERY time I close the attachment, no it DOES NOT go back to Outlook. The trip back to Outlook, which should be a single click of the back button, is hijacked by MS to show that stupid "recommend" or "you recently opened..." page. I have NEVER found an actual use for that page. Al it does it make have to click the back button an extra time just to get back to where I started. It's fucking annoying and seemingly has no way to turn it off. The last thing I need are "adverts" for other files I don't need right now appearing in file explorer.
It looks like you're finding a file. Can I help?
Share and Enjoy™
xyplorer
Remember, you can avoid all* this terrible shit by using a much better third party file explorer. I like XYplorer, but there are plenty of them.
* can't avoid it for save/load dialogues
* If ain't broke, piss about with it until you break it.
* If it's broken do nothing about it unless you can make it worse.
Seems to be Microsoft's philosophy these days. It's a lot like they just don't have a clue what they are trying to achieve.
Yep Paint is a train wreck in Windows 11 thanks to the fecking about with it.
Thank God!
More reasons to never sign into Microsoft and only use local accounts.
Cheese is Christ!
Quick Access folders (available by default for users signed into Windows with a Microsoft account), Favorites, and Recent also bring in an updated experience with WinUI."
Here we fuckin' go again!
Dear Micros~1, you Ignorant Slut: How may times do we have to tell you that we, the poor besodded users that have to use your effluvia, do not want an "updated experience". We just want your shit to work. Properly. The first and every time. That would be an "updated experience" that would win you praises. But it is becoming quite clear that you no longer have the capability in your organization to make anything work. Properly. At any time. All those "smart people" Bill Gates used to brag about have long ago unassed Redmond, and the SatNad acolytes (read: ass-lickers) that remain simply have no engineering chops.
So please bugger off with your "experiences", and maybe spend some time (and money) finding at least a few competent software people. In the meantime, I will continue to test Wine, and when it supports that software I need (none of which, by the way, sports a Micros~1 moniker), it will be hasta la vista, baby!
simple requirement
I've only ever needed File Explorer to show me the file system.
It would be nice if it also had a usable search facility.
-A.
Re: simple requirement
It would also be nice if the tree in the left-hand pane and the files in the right-hand pane always agreed on which directory is selected.
(No rush, though, since this broke in Vista and has gone unfixed for the last 17 years.)
They keep changing the sodding thing
The 'quick access' section has gone, replaced by a nameless section in the middle somewhere. It's still called 'quick access' when you add stuff to it.
Oddly enough, I just looked and on my system, at least, it's called 'quick access' again.
Microsoft has a track record of producing largely crap software, with dubious decisions made that only seem to benefit themselves.
Maybe get the current one working first ?
Thank god for WSL2 which lets me use find and grep to avoid the godawful Window File Mangler.