You Asked for It: Microsoft Is Bringing Tabs All Over Windows 10

[Exterminator]

You Asked for It: Microsoft Is Bringing Tabs All Over Windows 10

Microsoft announced a new feature coming to Windows 10 that would enable tabs in UWP apps and eventually in Win32 programs in an attempt to boost productivity and allow users to organize work with little effort.

The new feature is called “Sets” and the idea it’s based on is as simple as it could be: by bringing tabs in apps, users would never have to close or minimize a specific app only to search the web for information or launch another app. This is an approach similar to the tabs in browsers, which enable browsing the web with just a single window of the program running on the screen.

Microsoft Sets will initially be available in the company’s own universal apps, and Microsoft isn’t hiding the fact that its goal is to bring the same feature on all devices, including smartphones.

It goes without saying that enabling this feature on Android and iOS is more difficult than on its desktop operating system, but the company wants to be the first to do this with its apps like Office and Microsoft Edge and thus become a pioneer before more devs go for it. Sync features would also be available, so sets could support roaming from a PC to a mobile device.

Tabs, tabs everywhere
Furthermore, Microsoft also wants to enable this feature in Win32 software, and File Explorer, Notepad, and Photoshop are on the list of titles that should be getting it in early 2018. Again, this will hit some roadblocks, especially because some software comes with customized titlebars, but the firm apparently thought of that in advance and expects to release this feature next year.

Tab support in File Explorer was one of the most requested improvements for Windows 10, and Microsoft seems ready to deliver such a feature, although at first glance it looks like the company is doing it at a much bigger scale.

The behavior of Sets, however, could lead to more controversy in the Windows 10 world. By default, when opening a new tab, Sets will bring up a tab with a search option that replicates the one of Microsoft Edge, the company’s new Windows 10 browser that so far suffered from pretty low adoption figures.

Many could see this is a way to force Microsoft Edge onto users, a strategy that Microsoft turned down to several times already with pop-ups showing up on the desktop and notifications when other browsers were installed.

Microsoft Sets should become available for insiders in the coming builds before eventually going live for everyone in the spring of 2018 with the release of Windows 10 Redstone 4.

 

[Deleted member 65228]

This new feature is actually a really good idea as far as I am concerned, I am wondering why I haven't seen anyone complain about it not being present before already yet!

Shame I don't use MS Office because its a big target for exploitation and is usually affected quite a lot in a way similar to how badly Java and Flash was always attacked, but at-least they are coming up with bright ideas for user ease-of-us now. must be an awfully lot easier than switching window tabs 24/7 on the task bar

 

[_CyberGhosT_]

Another feature to stuff in the dungeon geesh
No seriously, as usual my curiosity will prevail and I will check it out, but as you and I
both suspect I will have it disabled within a week. lol
Cool share @Exterminator Thanks

 

[shmu26]

This sounds seriously like "Groupy", a program from Stardock that is officially still in beta, but is available to the public. I am using it and I like it.

 

[Deleted member 65228]

I think the best route for Microsoft to take right now is:

- Make a sandbox mechanism so the user has to toggle a switch on the UI before the MS Word process can touch the file-system, etc. -> put a block on process/registry access. Protect the switch UI component from external access and what-not. If they already have a sandbox container -> improve it.
- Kill off macro's by default. As in, not just disabled but completely in-existent unless the user manually downloads and installs the Macro package.

I think that'd be a start to a healthier tomorrow in regards to MS Office attacks... that way, macro's or a different abuse method (e.g. reflective DLL loading exploit into MS Office somehow even without macro's) -> can't touch your files, processes or registry. Only the one specified location the current document belongs at can be written too. They could even make secure communication to make another process which is protected handle the file-system requests to update documents (e.g. save them) and the actual editor process which is used for comprehending the document format and outputting the content or for macro's cannot do anything at all really without a really good exploit

An auto sandbox for macro's would be pretty cool if it was by them as well. Like rules so a macro cannot do this and that. then again the new exploit protection does have some things like this so I guess it isn't a "new" idea

Too much attention on their backs... popular software with so many customers like with MS Office will always be a target so they need to take more measures to make things more secure past just patching exploits once they are found. They should focus on making it secure so less exploits are developed for them to specifically patch if they can do so with time and resources without making a problem for the user (e.g. bad stability or performance)

Just a theoretical idea... malware authors will adapt but like with the idea above they'd need so much more XP to do a successful attack in those circumstances

 

[SHvFl]

It would actually be pretty useful for me at least the remembering what i had open and i hope it also remembers the position i was in the documents. Sumatra does it for pdf and it's awesome.

 

[brambedkar59]

Would be pretty great to have tabs on windows explorer, without any 3rd party software. I am not an Office 365 user so, otherwise I don't see any other benefit from it.

 

[mlnevese]

Tabs on Word would save me a lot of time... it already does on Adobe Acrobat

 

[shmu26]

Tabs on Word would save me a lot of time... it already does on Adobe Acrobat

I used to have a Word add-on that did tabs. Google it, maybe it is still around.
Or use Stardock Groupy.

 

[AtlBo]

Only the one specified location the current document belongs at can be written too.

Interesting, but I think macro security will have to evolve beyond that thinking. Macros are very powerful and useful for fetching data and also for delivering data. Also, macros can be used to delete tabs in Excel and or create tabs and so on. It's complicated, but I know macros are going to be an important part of workgroups in the future. Think about OneNote. Limitless opportunity for updating OneNote automatically from a company server and so on.

Personally, I feel MS should SLOW DOWN. IMO, they need to focus on the Event Viewer and go back to the basics with errors. Forget about security other than security patches. At MS, they should go back over all the data they have on each individual type of error over the history of Windows. Come up with a way to explain what each type of error can mean. That would help MS get a higher profile with developers and greater respect as new policy defaults can be created and then new and far more efficient controls for processing event errors. They are very telling of security holes, but they don't speak clearly of the real problem being indicated.

Why is event viewer not referenced by more apps, when the information could be useful to security writers? Because MS is trying too hard to be everything security. Nothing at all against anyone who differs with me, but it isn't going to work. I sense a big failure coming in all of this when MS realizes what a web of inoperability they have created within the OS. They have delved into a very messy business with security, and it's best left to IT and to custom software.

First time Microsoft decides what is best for us and shuts us out of something important without any recourse...well, we see forced updates and now forced mitigation control. This is going in the wrong direction in a big way I feel.

Seriously, I am not missing one single thing about Windows 10 right now. I don't envy you guys running the program. I don't want a secure OS. I want a securable one...

 

[AtlBo]

An auto sandbox for macro's would be pretty cool if it was by them as well. Like rules so a macro cannot do this and that.

@Opcode, this is more elegant, and I agree...not just sandbox but sandbox with allow rules for users or for ips or for locations etc. In this case I mean even a macro could do a specific job. VB could use some work too imo...make it more containable/self contained if you will. Why can't it just BE the macro language and that's all.