Hot Take Microsoft reveals major File Explorer redesign coming soon to Windows 11

silversurfer

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What you need to know​

  • Microsoft has revealed a new design that's in the works for File Explorer on Windows 11.
  • The updated design brings with it a modern interface for folders and the sidebar, as well as changes to the address and search bar.
  • The new File Explorer is based on WinUI 3.
Microsoft has briefly teased a major redesign that's currently in the works for the File Explorer app on Windows 11, that aims to modernize the app with up to date visuals that are consistent with the rest of Windows 11. The app was briefly revealed in a sizzle video announcing new features coming to Windows 11 soon, being announced at Build 2023.


 

brambedkar59

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"Hey, can you tell me what driver is causing Windows to crash?"
"I am an artificial intelligence language model not god"

Edit: Jokes aside that would be really cool if MS can manage to do that. They have all the crash dumps, logs to figure it out. Also telling user if any driver installed is not optimal or has any performance issues with it or "Your undervolt is too low it might cause crash." or "Your CPU voltages are too high and might affect it's long term reliability."
 
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CyberTech

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This week, Windows 11 marked its second anniversary and the end of the initial release, version 21H2, which was infamous for its lack of polish and certain features. However, Windows 11 also introduced new things, such as a redesigned File Explorer, which later received tabs support and plenty of modernized UI elements and features.

The Windows 11 Moment 4 update Microsoft released to the general public in late September brought one of the biggest updates to File Explorer since the initial release. In February, we published an article detailing the top 10 features and changes Windows 11 users want Microsoft to add to File Explorer. Now, it is time to compare the requests with what Microsoft delivered.


RequestChanges
Make File Explorer faster when performing common actions.
Made it worse.

Intentionally or not, Microsoft did the opposite. Although the redesigned File Explorer looks better, it suffers from severe performance issues even on the latest and powerful hardware.
Revamp the Properties window and add dark mode support.Unchanged.
Support more archive formats.
Delivered.

File Explorer in the Windows 11 Moment 4 update supports many different archive formats, such as RAR, 7Z, TAR, and more. Many think this is the best change in the update. However, those frequently working with archives may still prefer dedicated software. Our tests showed that File Explorer is much slower than WinRAR and 7Zip.
Improve design consistency.
Delivered (partially).

The Moment 4 update introduces more modern UI bits for File Explorer, such as the address and search bar, toolbar, and more. In addition to looking better, they work better with touchscreen devices. There is a catch: the updated address bar no longer supports drag and drop.
Redesign the disk storage usage indicators.Unchanged.
Make File Explorer display how much space each folder takes.Unchanged.
Allow dragging tabs between different File Explorer windows.
Delivered.
Merge context menus and remove the "Show more options" button.Unchanged.
Add a "Refresh" option to the context menu.Unchanged.
Let users set the "Show more options" view as the default.Unchanged.

Now, here are the File Explorer changes Microsoft introduced in the Moment 4 update:
 

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