Where will customization go from here? Are we at our limits of what we can do
to customize Windows? The answer is, not by a long shot. In the past year we
have seen a movement towards widgetizing the desktop. On MacOS X
Konfabulator is a popular program for
adding desktop widgets. On Windows, DesktopX
provides similar functionality. These programs help bridge the distance between
icons and full fledged programs.
But that's really just a taste. One place Stardock sees things moving in the
future, especially as Longhorn nears and Windows XP becomes the defacto standard
in businesses, is the concept of Micro-Shells. In the old days, programs
tried to replace the entire shell (explorer). Micro-Shells instead extend pieces
of the shell. One part of the shell Stardock is particularly interested in
extending in the future is the folder views. We don't want to replace what's
there. What we want to do is extend it so that there are other ways of viewing
the files in a directory (folder) than what we have today.
We take this view for granted. But really, it's kind of a one
size fits all. Sure, you can make them be thumbnails or lists, but that's pretty
weak. Stardock has experimented with adding more views with "Treeview" in
Object Desktop but it has proven
challenging to make it robust.
Object Desktop
includes "Tree View" which is an experiment in trying to add a new view to
Explorer.
What is really needed is a robust, way for third parties to be
able to fundamentally change bits and pieces of the shell. Hence, Micro-Shells.
Different Micro-Shells could be installed on your computer to re-arrange how you
might view things. A Micro-Shell to extend the standard folder metaphor might
include ways of viewing your data as a book. Or maybe display things like your
Tivo does. Let's face it, these days, we deal with so many different kinds of
data that we need vastly more ways to view and organize it. Users could right
click on a folder and select which view they want it to default to.
Right now this is it. These are your options for customizing a
folder. Imagine instead a way where users who download a micro-shell that
extends the folder views could actually design up their own folder view and
upload it to a website like
WinCustomize.com. Once installed, it would show up on this list. Some of
these would be cosmetic but like the widgets of today, some of these could be
highly useful. A simple one would be designed to display as many files with
basic details as possible. Another one might be designed specifically for
displaying movies in a way that isn't just thumbnails. Another view might
display the contents like a report with files linked into it. It all depends on
what the purpose of a given folder is. As it stands now, there is no easy way to
add more views to this list. You've got 7. And of those 7, most of them are
pretty much the same.
Once a micro-shell for extending the folder view mechanism is
done, other micro-shells become possible. There are lots of areas in Windows
that could be tweaked or expanded in ways that are subtle or profound.
Controlling how the mouse works in interacting with items on your computer to
adding mouse gestures to changing the way context menus work. The point of
micro-shells is to expand the functionality of the Windows shell seamlessly
so that you don't end up bloating it up and slowing things down. It may be
until Longhorn comes out before Micro-Shells are able to be done to the Nth
degree but I think this is going to become one of the "next big things" in
customization.
-Brad Wardell
