11-08-2015, 12:00 PM
I'm guessing Peter is talking about the various "abstracted" folders that sit within "Libraries", for example.
If so, I share that discomfort. I'm very happy with the file system, and I like to choose exactly where to install my programs, where to save my data, where to keep my music collection, where to keep my photographs, where to keep my archive of technical data. You get the idea. I don't want these to be hidden away on the C drive where Windows thinks is best (e.g., Music ends up being in C:\Users\Mark\My Documents\Music).
This all started with the introduction of Special Folders back in the Windows 95 days, with My Documents being the first. The concept has grown a lot since then...
For the sake of balance, there are good reasons for doing this - especially for non-expert users. But for those of us who have our own ways about managing data, it can get in the way. I avoid it by partitioning my hard discs in to multiple drive letters, and put the bulk of the data on E:
The "Libraries" in Windows 7 is something I've made no effort to use or understand, but they appear to be a new level of abstraction where multiple physical or special folders can be part of the library - the files you see within a library could therefore be a mixture of 2 or more folders. While again I can see how that could be useful to some, it doesn't sit comfortably with me.
Naturally, all these are functions of the operating system, not the file system.
Of course, there will be times when the OS breaks down and you might need to find the "MS-DOS" pathname to the physical files to recover them. Easy if you do what I do and avoid the bulk of the abstracted folders.
Last night one of my Windows 7 PCs confirmed that it has downloaded the files, and is ready to update. Unfortunately, this computer is "mission-critical" at the moment, so I won't be doing it any time soon. Sadly, my other machines are rather more "expendable" and could be rebuild in a few minutes from recover DVDs, but they haven't received the option to reserve, let alone the update itself. Hmm...
If so, I share that discomfort. I'm very happy with the file system, and I like to choose exactly where to install my programs, where to save my data, where to keep my music collection, where to keep my photographs, where to keep my archive of technical data. You get the idea. I don't want these to be hidden away on the C drive where Windows thinks is best (e.g., Music ends up being in C:\Users\Mark\My Documents\Music).
This all started with the introduction of Special Folders back in the Windows 95 days, with My Documents being the first. The concept has grown a lot since then...
For the sake of balance, there are good reasons for doing this - especially for non-expert users. But for those of us who have our own ways about managing data, it can get in the way. I avoid it by partitioning my hard discs in to multiple drive letters, and put the bulk of the data on E:
The "Libraries" in Windows 7 is something I've made no effort to use or understand, but they appear to be a new level of abstraction where multiple physical or special folders can be part of the library - the files you see within a library could therefore be a mixture of 2 or more folders. While again I can see how that could be useful to some, it doesn't sit comfortably with me.
Naturally, all these are functions of the operating system, not the file system.
Of course, there will be times when the OS breaks down and you might need to find the "MS-DOS" pathname to the physical files to recover them. Easy if you do what I do and avoid the bulk of the abstracted folders.
Last night one of my Windows 7 PCs confirmed that it has downloaded the files, and is ready to update. Unfortunately, this computer is "mission-critical" at the moment, so I won't be doing it any time soon. Sadly, my other machines are rather more "expendable" and could be rebuild in a few minutes from recover DVDs, but they haven't received the option to reserve, let alone the update itself. Hmm...
