Microsoft released the source code and compiled builds of the original Windows File Manager and a modified version with additional functionality to the public recently.
Microsoft created two different versions of the File Manager:
- original version is close to the original
- version 10.0 includes additional enhancements
The original version of File Manager needed modifications to run on modern versions of Windows. It was a 16-bit application and Microsoft converted the source so that it works with Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2017.
The source compiles and runs on 64-bit versions of Windows and Microsoft had to make a handful of other changes to get the application to work properly. Internal API references had to be changed to public APIs, and a "few header files" needed to be added on top of that.
The modified version of File Manager introduces features that most Windows users expect from a file manager.
