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Microsoft Experimenting Tabs Experience On File Explorer, Other Apps On Windows 10 (windowscentral.com)

Microsoft has begun experimenting with browser tabbing experience on all apps in Windows 10, including File Explorer. From a report on WindowsCentral: According to sources familiar with the matter, Microsoft is currently experimenting internally with a new feature called "Tabbed Shell", which brings the familiar browser tabbing module to all app windows in Windows 10, including the File Explorer. Per our sources, Tabbed Shell is a feature being worked on at an OS level, and doesn't require work from app developers to take advantage of it. By default, Tabbed Shell works with any app window, whether it be Photoshop, File Explorer, or Microsoft Word. Any UWP, Win32 or Centennial app will work. Much like in Edge, you'll find a tabbed interface at the top of a window where you can switch between instances of the same app.

61 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Need this backported for Windows 7... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    This is something I need at work. Can't install a third-party app that does this since the workstations are locked down tighter than a virgin nerd's ass.

    1. Re:Need this backported for Windows 7... by taustin · · Score: 1

      For three more years. Then it's be the perfect bitch for every malware distributor in the world.

  2. Re:Like Linux? by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

    I don't think I've seen a windows manager place all instances of an application in a single tabbed window. Tabbed file explorer sure...

  3. Split View by Jamu · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not like a split view would be useful for copy files from one location to another. Nope, we get tabs. Thanks Microsoft.

    --
    Who ordered that?
    1. Re:Split View by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Informative
    2. Re:Split View by omnichad · · Score: 1

      That's easy enough for doing with two separate windows at any size you want. If you want them 50/50 full screen, drag each window to either side edge of the screen (Aero Snap - stupid name, nice UI move).

    3. Re:Split View by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Next you will be telling me I should install XTree Gold

      --
      Time to offend someone
    4. Re:Split View by DogDude · · Score: 1

      Explorer already has a split view. Has since 1995.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    5. Re:Split View by Solandri · · Score: 2

      A split view is only necessary if you're dragging and dropping. For a tabbed view, all you have to do is copy (or cut for move) and paste. Click, ctrl-c (or ctrl-x), then ctrl-v in the other tab.

      I had been using QTTabBar to add tabs to file explorer windows (Clover 3 and TabExplorer are other options). Unfortunately it interferes with context menus, and I had to go back to a half dozen file explorer windows scattered all over the desktop. Native tab support would be most welcome.

      A split view should be easy to add though. I'm thinking of emacs where you could have multiple files open simultaneously and cycle through them, and also split the edit box into multiple windows and (optionally) show different files in each window. Considering this functionality dates back to the 1980s, you have to wonder WTH Microsoft has been doing all this time.

    6. Re:Split View by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Next you will be telling me I should install XTree Gold

      I had a shareware clone of that program back in the day.

    7. Re:Split View by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not like a split view would be useful for copy files from one location to another. Nope, we get tabs. Thanks Microsoft.

      1. Windows+Left to park source on left half of screen
      2. Right-click, Open in new window
      3. Windows+Right to park destination on right half of screen

      It would be nice to have a one-click shortcut, but it's not exactly hard.

    8. Re:Split View by haruchai · · Score: 1

      Just use Q-dir

      --
      Pain is merely failure leaving the body
    9. Re:Split View by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Ignore Microsoft. Directory Opus is what you are after. When I was introduced to this 10 years ago it changed my life forever. Indispensable.

    10. Re:Split View by reanjr · · Score: 1

      Do you really think it will not be possible to drag and drop onto another tab?

    11. Re:Split View by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Look there is a much easier way. If you are going to do some serious file handling, just create a Linux dual boot give it access to the Windows partition and go nuts. Repairing windows is also much easier from with the Linux boot. You might not use it often but by far the best way to manage windows is from Linux. So many elements of Windows went from bad to reasonable to bad it just boggles the mind.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    12. Re:Split View by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Oh, yes. It's much easier to reboot every time I want to move a set of files. And yes, that's sarcasm.

      Repairing Windows is much better from a Linux live boot (or a Windows ISO Live boot), because MS is just as likely to break the bootloader as leave it intact when things go wrong.

    13. Re:Split View by CCarrot · · Score: 1

      You could always install Midnight Commander.

      https://midnight-commander.org/

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Commander

      Or FreeCommander. They even have a portable version on the Portable Apps site.

      This has been my go-to fix for the whole Windows Explorer incompetency for about a decade now. Free for personal or corporate use, a donation gets you access to the 64-bit version and past versions of the software, but the free 32-bit current version is not function-crippled in any way. Portable version even works on computers where you don't have installation rights, and having bookmarks capabilities for corporate network folders is the best thing ever. ;-)

      Enjoy!

      --
      "I love animals! Some are cute, others are tasty, what's not to like?" - Betsy Schroeder, Jeopardy contestant
    14. Re:Split View by latebeer · · Score: 1

      On Android "fx" by NextApp has split view for file management. It's slick.

  4. Re: Like Linux? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Yes, IIRC pretty much every window manager has that on Linux. Including support for terminal windows.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  5. Re:Like Linux? by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

    Indeed. GNOME has had this for roughly two geologic eras now. Good to see that Windows has finally come up to 2002 UI standards. ;)

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  6. Re:Typo in title by Pfhorrest · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't you know, prepositions so 20th century. Nowdays our cars need washed and we experiment tabs experience.

    --
    -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
    "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
  7. Tabs tabber tabbing tabs by Torodung · · Score: 1

    Where's Mr. Luddite guy talking about tabs tabbing tabs? I'm disappointed that he couldn't pull the trigger quick enough.

    Tabs!

    1. Re:Tabs tabber tabbing tabs by erapert · · Score: 1

      Just don't suggest spaces and we'll all get along just fine.

  8. it's the 1990s all over again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    microsoft says they are the world expert in user interfaces and yet they are always going back to square zero as if they don't have a clue

    1. Re: it's the 1990s all over again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Are they reinventing MDI?

    2. Re:it's the 1990s all over again by Computershack · · Score: 1

      microsoft says they are the world expert in user interfaces and yet they are always going back to square zero as if they don't have a clue

      Given how many Linux desktops ape one version of Windows desktop or another, even the light ones apeing Windows 95, I'd say Microsoft seems to have a point.

      --
      I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
  9. Re: Like Linux? by Dracos · · Score: 2

    So if Linux has a feature, Windows can't?

    Not exactly. If MS finds a feature in any other OS, their first consideration is whether they can implement it in a strange and/or overzealous way.

  10. Re: Like Linux? by erapert · · Score: 2

    So if Linux has a feature, Windows can't?

    Nobody said that Windows can't have a feature. GP's point was that Microsoft shouldn't get any accolades for implementing something that has been available, depending on configuration and DE, in Linux for over a decade. You don't get a blue ribbon for catching up to where the rest of the racers have already been for some time.

    Also, Microsoft has a very very long way to go to catch up to the customization that GTK and KDE have had for decades. That hideous blinding white was one of the reasons I switched away from Windows in the first place.

    Plus, this is more than just the file explorer, it's ANY application.

    Fluxbox has had this for a very long time. (I used fluxbox for years).
    But why use tabs for organization if you could have your window manager (i.e. Awesome, i3) handle the arrangement for you automatically instead?

  11. Excel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Excel needs with tabs. Opening another instance of Excel so you can compare or flip between two spreadsheets is a monumental pain, and it's incomprehensible why Microsoft let it go on this long. Oh, and be able to detach a tab and have it become another window on its own. Because Excel, dammit.

    1. Re:Excel by avandesande · · Score: 1

      I was never happier when they got rid of the tabbed interface in excel

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    2. Re:Excel by Computershack · · Score: 1

      You can. You've been able to forever. You don't actually use Excel do you?

      --
      I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
  12. Re: Like Linux? by haruchai · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So if Linux has a feature, Windows can't?

    Not exactly. If MS finds a feature in any other OS, their first consideration is whether they can implement it in a strange and/or overzealous way.

    That explains Powershell

    --
    Pain is merely failure leaving the body
  13. Re:Typo in title by zlives · · Score: 2

    I am one who welcomes our preposition-less overlords.

  14. Re:As a Windows 10 virus writer by zlives · · Score: 1

    just wait till you can enable invisible tabs for scripts.

  15. Re: Like Linux? by lgw · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has done nothing first. But it's still nice for a large number of people whenever they catch up in some area.

    But why use tabs for organization if you could have your window manager (i.e. Awesome, i3) handle the arrangement for you automatically instead?

    Sure, it you like tiny windows. I prefer a real taskbar, effectively tabs for everything. All windows full screen, and one click to switch to any of them.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  16. Re:Question for logged-in users by dfm3 · · Score: 1

    There's nothing hypocritical about making a distinction between not wanting countless unknown entities (i.e. advertisers) tracking one's every move on the internet, and wanting to participate in an online discussion anonymously. Those are two completely separate issues. If I want to contribute to discussion here I do so by choice, and I voluntarily give up a small amount of privacy to do so.

    That being said, I do support changing the rules for AC posting (even though it'll probably never happen) as follows: allow AC posts only from logged in users, and tie negative moderation (but not positive) to their karma. Then, at least, abusive posts are traceable back to an account, though not by normal users, and there is still reduced incentive act the part of a troll. Sure, someone could just create new throwaway accounts, but it adds one more hurdle.

  17. Ugh, I hate tabs within apps by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 1

    I want CROSS APPLICATION tabbing, which we already have in Windows. I prefer to organize elements based on functionality, not based on what app is being used. A single project may include multiple elements that are not all word documents or excel spreadsheets but combine disparate applications. Hiding stuff within an apps tabs such that you have to drill down into the app to find stuff is counterproductive. I happen to like the Windows taskbar, though I put it on the side so that I can stack up more "tabs" and be able to tell what they are, and that works fine. What I hate is when individual instances are collapsed into a single entry, as then I can't go directly from one to another without fishing for the instance.... Spare me the tabs, that's the first thing I want to turn off in any browser...

    1. Re:Ugh, I hate tabs within apps by thogard · · Score: 1

      I agree with the cross app access but I hate tabs. I've got lots of big screens full of pixels for a reason and I like using multiple windows and I like the windows arranged by task and I'll have many tasks stacked up.

      It seems that for some stupid reason, OS X after 10.5 has decided to resort the window order after a command-tab or command ~ which means using them like a stack simply no longer works and you get to play the find the right buried window game and time you switch between stacked tasks.

  18. "User Experience" by Misagon · · Score: 1

    Yet another Slashdot headline that was unintelligible until I inserted "with" and read "Tabs Experience" as a noun.

    The term "User Experience" term really irks me, because the wording implies an unhealthy mindset towards designing user interfaces.
    Seriously ... if your user interface is an experience then you are doing something wrong. The UI should be functional and get out of the way so that I can get shit done.

    --
    "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
  19. Re:Like Linux? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Don't Linux distros already have tabs in their file explorers? Ah, but of course, Windows users aren't likely to know that, so i guess it's something new to them.

    Yes, but as usual, MS didn't copy Linux. They waited until Apple had it:

    https://www.howtogeek.com/2751...

  20. Re:Like Linux? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Yes. And since Linux forever, now Windows, watch Mac do it and claim it's something new and innovative.

    You're too late.

    https://www.howtogeek.com/2751...

  21. Re:Like Linux? by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Macs already have this - they added tabs to Finder in OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) which came out in 2013.

    And now it's virtually everywhere:

    https://www.howtogeek.com/2751...

  22. Re:Question for logged-in users by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    Allowing ACs to post undermines the moderation system. And if by "karma whoring" you mean sensible rational posts, then I'm all for getting rid of ACs.

    It isn't the anonymity that is the problem, it's that ACs literally are completely unaccountable. So what if some disgusting little troll posting AC gets a post downmodded, big fucking deal. When I get enough posts downmodded I pay a price in karma. That makes me accountable.

    Hear, Hear!!!

  23. Re: Like Linux? by AvitarX · · Score: 1

    This is my biggest fear with Wayland.

    Since the Window Decorations are not controlled by the App, I fear (without knowing if I'm misunderstanding something) that features like this will be harder/impossible to achieve.

    --
    Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
  24. Microsoft by jediborg · · Score: 1

    Taking the best features from decades old linux distributions and bringing them to Windows!

    1. Re:Microsoft by Computershack · · Score: 1

      Gnome only started as a project FOUR YEARS after Microsoft released Windows 95 and Gnome desktops have been mimicking Windows desktops for decades.

      --
      I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
  25. A promising beginning by artmancc · · Score: 1
    I could possibly use a tabbed file manager. In fact, I sometimes do. It's called Explorer++...

    What I could really use, though, is a file manager with side-by-side directory windows. And also, Mr. Microsoft, if you're listening: a file manager that doesn't change my layout preferences in search results to something stupid and unhelpful and, incidentally, not what I have selected as my, you know, preference.

  26. Re: Like Linux? by erapert · · Score: 1

    Sure, it you like tiny windows. I prefer a real taskbar, effectively tabs for everything. All windows full screen, and one click to switch to any of them.

    But that's exactly how I use Awesome.

    I open a window and it's automatically full screen and doesn't waste any space on a title bar.

    If I open another application it will automatically split the screen to maximize both (half each). I don't even have to click to set focus, I just mouse over the window which saves any potential errors from fumbling the mouse (i.e. click-drag instead of a simple click, or clicking to set focus... but accidentally hitting a button in the window which then does something unintended).

    Awesome supports an arbitrary number of desktops (they're actually tags, but I don't have time to fully explain) and different monitors have their own sets. I use three monitors at work and two at home. I usually have four text editor instances running and an instance of chrome all using the maximum amount of screen real estate. Hit "win + enter" to bring up a terminal, fiddle around or git status or git pull, then "ctrl + d" to close the terminal and Awesome will automatically resize the other windows to fill the screen again without any other interaction from me. It's very efficient.

    I can send the currently focused window to any tag by pressing "win + shift + $tagnumber" on my keyboard-- I can even configure and script Awesome to behave any way I want it to using Lua. I don't bother to do much messing around, but I know that many other people do plenty of cool stuff using the Lua API.

    I can instantly switch the current monitor to the desired tag by pressing "win + $tagnumber" or by mousing over the tag list and scrolling the mouse wheel, or, if the desktop wallpaper is visible because I have no windows open I can just mouse over that and scroll. I usually keep certain tags/desktops for certain things-- for example I habitually put Chrome on tag number one on my far left monitor. I can set up a script to tell Awesome to auto-start chrome, for example, when I log in.

    Press "win + k" or "win + j" to change focus using the keyboard: handy if what you're doing is editing text all day.
    Press "win + h" or "win + l" to increase or decrease a window's portion of used screen space.
    Hold the win key and then mouse click and drag a window accross the monitor and Awesome will automatically just snap it to the appropriate size on the appropriate monitor for me. I don't have to fiddle around resizing windows at all-- nor should I! There's several pre-set tiling modes in Awesome that I can cycle through at the touch of a mouse click or scroll of the mouse wheel-- even a "floating" mode which doesn't do any auto-resizing at all and lets the window float on the screen and I can drag it around or resize it almost like a traditional desktop.

    That's a lot of text, but my point here is how much more streamlined my workflow is compared to the equivalent on Windows.

    Fundamentally what we're after is an easy to use window manager that automatically handles window arrangement for you and doesn't get in your way, right?

    But don't you see? Windows is precisely the wrong desktop to use for this! Windows forces you to manually manage the windows on your screen! You must click to set focus. You must move your mouse to and click on a button to maximize or close or minimize. You must find that tiny margin and click and drag to resize a window. Only very recently has Windows even implemented multiple desktops!


    It's almost natural by now through so much repetition, isn't it? But it is unnecessary! And, more importantly, Microsoft does not allow you, nor support, any choice in the matter!

    Why not be free instead?

  27. YAWWWWN by gabrieltss · · Score: 1

    Directory Opus has had tabbed file explorer capabilities for YEARS! I wouldn't use Windows Explorer if it had tabs. It's still a POS compared to Directory Opus. What we need is what Linux has - tabbed shell's.

    --
    The Truth is a Virus!!!
  28. Re: Like Linux? by lgw · · Score: 1

    I just don't like tiled windows.

    I also strongly dislike taskbars where multiple tabs from the same application are condensed into a single item in the task bar, making it a menu of sorts. Worst workflow ever.

    Microsoft does not allow you, nor support, any choice in the matter!

    You've always been able to use your own desktop manager with Windows. Norton had a popular one in the early days. Classic shell was very popular for Windows 8 - only way that craptastic UI was usable.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  29. It took that long? by rkagerer · · Score: 1

    Had this already for years, with QTTabBar. Works great on Win 7, too.

  30. Re:Like Linux? by JohnVanVliet · · Score: 1

    why YES they do , the file manager has had tabs for as long as i know
    at least since BEFORE MS released XP in 2001

    talk about being 20 YEARS OUT OF DATE
    Microsoft you really need help

    --
    "I don't pitch OpenSUSE Linux to my friends, i let Microsoft do it for me
  31. Re: Question for logged-in users by Plus1Entropy · · Score: 1

    Isn't it built into the Friends & Foes system thing that I've never used?

    --
    Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
  32. I don't want multiple of the same, think different by holophrastic · · Score: 1

    I never wanted a dozen browser tabs grouped into one window.
    I don't want a dozen file explorer tabs grouped into one window either.
    I certainly don't want a dozen photoshop tabs grouped into one window!

    Think harder. Remember the reason that I opened multiple photoshop instances to begin with? I'm working on multiple different projects.

    I want one window for each project. I want one window with three browser tabs, two file explorer tabs, and a photoshop tab. I'm working on a poster in photoshop, and I've opened two website tutorials, one local tutorial, and some documentation to support my photoshop design. When the phone rings, and it's my other client, I want to minimize it all. When I open my taxes, I want it obviously separate from my poster work.

    And no, workspaces and virtual desktops are way too far for that. I'm one person, with one workflow. I need to see everything that I'm not working on too.

    I'm actually a web developer (big surprise here, I'm sure). I can't do anything without: UE for typing code, two browsers for testing code, FTP-something for pulling and pushing code, SSH for configuring code, something mysql for data-play, and the client's e-mail open to figure out what I should be doing. And something note-pad so I can remember what to say back to the client days later. I'd love to tab the two different browsers together. I'd love to tab SSH and FTP together. I'd love to tab a query browser and the e-mail together. I'd love communication with client data together in one window, browser testing together in another window, server communication together in a third window, and my text creation together in a fourth window.

    Instead, I get ten windows to juggle. And then a second client calls. One minute, let me open your ten windows.

  33. Great by allo · · Score: 1

    So they get roughly what common linux desktops had in 2000.

    1. Re:Great by Computershack · · Score: 1

      So they get roughly what common linux desktops had in 2000.

      You could get them on Windows half a decade earlier via third party apps, no different to the way that Linux distros do.

      --
      I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
    2. Re:Great by allo · · Score: 1

      Linux does it without thirdparty programs. You can always suggest some alternatives, but we're talking about the standard FM in a system.

  34. Re:Like Linux? by Computershack · · Score: 1

    Don't Linux distros already have tabs in their file explorers? Ah, but of course, Windows users aren't likely to know that, so i guess it's something new to them.

    I'd keep quiet if I were you given how Linux desktops have copied the look and feel of Windows for decades complete with "start button", menu system, taskbar and system tray and doing things like showing live previews on taskbar active app icons.

    --
    I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
  35. Re: Like Linux? by Computershack · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has done nothing first.

    Really? Then why do most Linux desktops look like Windows?

    --
    I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
  36. Re:Like Linux? by Computershack · · Score: 1

    Indeed. GNOME has had this for roughly two geologic eras now. Good to see that Windows has finally come up to 2002 UI standards. ;)

    Start button leading to menu system, taskbar, system tray, remind me who released that first again? Oh that's right, Microsoft. Certainly wasn't Gnome as that project didn't even start until after Windows 98 was well into its second year.

    --
    I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams