XP Explorer application in Vista

Hello everybody.

I wanted to know, would it be possible to use Windows XP's explorer interface in Windows vista?  Yes I know there are a few things you can do to have Vista's new file explorer tone it down a notch, but I'm wondering if there is a way to make Windows XP's exact file explorer avalible from within vista.  Just trying to run the old explorer.exe file form within vista does not work.

If this is possible, please let me know.  I figured that if anybody would know, you guys would.

...

I don't think that's possible, as the Explorer.exe itself link deeply with other system component. (Note that the "Shell32" control itself is a system component.)

Btw, why would you want to run that in Vista?

I'll be brutally honest:

I like vista changes to the start menu.  I like live thumbnails from the taskbar.  I like live Alt+tab thumbnails.

I cannot stand the new file explorer interface.  I believe it is a huge step in the wrong direction.  Also, 90% of the control panel applets are insane.  Half of the control panel has dialog boxes, half of it has web-page-style configuration pages (with the back button and such).  Vista has so little design consistency.  That's why I haven't upgraded.  Also, I'm an OEM, and although we only sell about 300 PCs a year, I highly recommend to each of my customers that they buy XP for these reasons.

So, to make a long story short, I'm trying to take the desirable things about Vista, but merge them with the clean and efficient elements of Windows XP/2000.  Obviously this isn't possible, but thanks for responding.

 

 

wcitech wrote:



I'll be brutally honest:

I like vista changes to the start menu.  I like live thumbnails from the taskbar.  I like live Alt+tab thumbnails.

I cannot stand the new file explorer interface.  I believe it is a huge step in the wrong direction.  Also, 90% of the control panel applets are insane.  Half of the control panel has dialog boxes, half of it has web-page-style configuration pages (with the back button and such).  Vista has so little design consistency.  That's why I haven't upgraded.  Also, I'm an OEM, and although we only sell about 300 PCs a year, I highly recommend to each of my customers that they buy XP for these reasons.

So, to make a long story short, I'm trying to take the desirable things about Vista, but merge them with the clean and efficient elements of Windows XP/2000.  Obviously this isn't possible, but thanks for responding.

 

Sorry to hear that.

But regarding the "Control Panel", I think they're on the way to change whatever applets there to "web" style, because that links better with automation provided by "online help". (Occasionally, when you type a question at the online help, it'll show a link or button that'll do the job for you by clicking on it, or offer an interactive step-by-step tutorial on how to do that. That's functionality not exist in WinXP or before. I think it makes life easier for supporting a end-user-oriented system.)

wcitech wrote:



I'll be brutally honest:

I like vista changes to the start menu.  I like live thumbnails from the taskbar.  I like live Alt+tab thumbnails.

I cannot stand the new file explorer interface.  I believe it is a huge step in the wrong direction.  Also, 90% of the control panel applets are insane.  Half of the control panel has dialog boxes, half of it has web-page-style configuration pages (with the back button and such).  Vista has so little design consistency.  That's why I haven't upgraded.  Also, I'm an OEM, and although we only sell about 300 PCs a year, I highly recommend to each of my customers that they buy XP for these reasons.

So, to make a long story short, I'm trying to take the desirable things about Vista, but merge them with the clean and efficient elements of Windows XP/2000.  Obviously this isn't possible, but thanks for responding.

Probably majority of your customers would not agree with you if they tried vista - I think if they have opportuinty to get Vista oem they should get one, retail would cost them more, and that could result in some anger if they figure out they've paid for older version.

Anyway, what particular things annoy you? You can still get classical view in control panel, treeview for folders in explorer can be expanded to cover whole left side.

I think it's just your personal feeling about vista - I haven't found any problems that would bother me and I use it daily.

I've been using Vista for over 1.5 years now (I was in the Beta program) and have been using it as my main desktop since it went RTM.

XP took some getting used to when it came out, Vista is the same and I generally like the changes however my major gripe about Explorer is the removal of the UP button. 

Personally I wish there was a way to change the BACK button to function like UP in XP's Explorer.

yes I totally agree with that and I also hate how I no longer see C:\Documents and Settings\User\Folder anymore, but instead the Macintosh-esque Computer >> Hard Drive >> Folder style.  I know that you can see the real path once you click the address bar.

And while we're talking about "Documents and Settings", the user profile structure blows my mind.  I miss the days when the documents folder would encompass the music, pictures and videos.

When XP came out I was against it until I realized I didn't know what I was talking about.  Also at the time I didn't realize that Win2K wasn't for home users. XP was a desktop revolution.  Vista changes things, but I'll disagree that those changes are for the better.

I just wish I could have Aero + the new start menu with XP.  THAT would be sweet.

I also have a serious problem with Vista's new explorer. It's just plain broken.

When it comes down to something like the explorer file manager you are messing with usability and productivity. I am forced to use Vista at work and home because I am a Microsoft developer. I have finally gotten to the point where I am looking for alternatives.

Major problems I have with Vista's explorer:

The Breadcrumb
I have grown to like the breadcrumb. Unfortunately it's poorly executed. When the path gets too long your view gets truncated. I used to always turn on the "Show path in the title bar" feature in XP. This would give me a quick point of reference. If I could do this in Vista the breadcrumb would almost be perfect. For example if I navigate to "c:\<long path>\stuff" and then open another explorer window and goto \\server\<long similar path>\stuff it's almost impossible to distinguish between these two windows.

Another major problem with the breadcrumb is when you FTP somewhere the breadcrumb disables itself and it reverts back to the standard ftp://someplace.com/path/another path view. This breaks the system because there is no more "Up" button.

Views
On a fresh install of XP I used to ALWAYS go into explorer, set the folder view to detailed, set explorer to always show extensions, set the "don't remember folder views" setting, and then tell explorer to apply the current view to all folders.

This doesn't seem to work at all on Vista.

For example:
My c:\ root is showing the "rating stars" view for some reason, even though I don't have any videos or music in the root.
Whenever I create a new folder, put some content in it and go look at it, I see the large thumbnail view. This is enraging... This happens on multiple computers.


The way I look at it... For a tool like this, people need to know the exact outcome of the actions they are performing. For example, they know what to expect when they select a folder and hit the delete button. Once you change this or the results are different each time you do the task the tool ceases to be useful.

The "apply to folders" button in Vista in fact applies to all folders of this type. (it says so in the text description).

So you need to do it for each template. The templates are "All Items", "Documents", "Music Details", "Music Icons" and "Pictures and Videos".

You can see (and change) which template a folder is using on the Customize tab of the folder's properties.

hodo wrote:


XP took some getting used to when it came out, Vista is the same and I generally like the changes however my major gripe about Explorer is the removal of the UP button. 

Personally I wish there was a way to change the BACK button to function like UP in XP's Explorer.

Actually, with the "segmented(?)" address bar, I found it's okay to remove the "up one level" button.

If you want to go 1 level up, just click on the parent folder's name. You can even go to the root of the drive with 1 click if you wish.

wcitech wrote:

And while we're talking about "Documents and Settings", the user profile structure blows my mind.  I miss the days when the documents folder would encompass the music, pictures and videos.

I agree with this in the case that you have turned on show hidden files, system files, etc. this folder becomes unweildy with all of the shortcuts hanging around.

Something I just did that I rather like.. is to collapse the tree view away, and edit the links in "Favorite Links" to include the drives I am interested in. This way it looks more like "My Documents" blended with "My Computer" of XP. You can easily change the links by adding or removing shortcuts.

Also.. check this out.. may be helpful for getting to what you want to get to. http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/3f1be40e-70c6-462c-9e8f-591d14d875cd1033.mspx?mfr=true

wcitech wrote:


...

That's why I haven't upgraded

...

I highly recommend to each of my customers that they buy XP for these reasons.

...

 

You should take the trouble to upgrade before you advise your customers one way or the other - Vista will become the new operating system standard over the next two to three years, with Windows XP going the same route as Windows 95 and 98. Your customers won't thank you when they purchase an operating system that will not be supported by most applications released eighteen months from now.

Bear in mind that while you may not like the new explorer or control panel interface, they have been designed with a great deal of input from the Microsoft customer base, and have been designed in such a way that they are easier to use and more intutative than any other previous operating system, Microsoft-made or otherwise.

One of the major developments that you seem to have missed in Windows Vista, is the search facility, which contrary to common opinion, is not just about looking for files. Finding things in the control panel is hugely easier under Vista than under XP, as is searching through the Windows Help and Support program.

And bearing in mind that in Windows XP and Windows Vista advanced users can choose to view everything as icons, there is very little reason to suggest we are going backward in terms of user interface.

Ultimately, I must suggest that you seriously look at obtaining a copy of Windows Vista for test purposes and run it as your main operating system on a medium to high-power machine for at least a month before making such assertions, as it is unfair on your customers to suggest one operating system above another without experience of both.

 Regards,
   Matt.

wcitech wrote:

Before I could hit 'Ctrl + A, Del, Y' if I wanted to delete every file in a folder, but for no apparent reason such inconveniences have been taken away

You could at least try to pick examples that are actually true. This particular one still works in Vista.

Fixed

I'm afraid I must respectfully disagree with your analogy of Windows XP to Windows 98/95.

Windows 2000 and XP make Windows 95, 98, and ME obsolete NOT because XP is the "next version", but because the NT platform is by far superior to the 9X platform.  Does Windows Vista do for XP customers what XP did for WinME users?  No.  Hell no.

Also, I haven't personally upgraded (permantly) because I have taken the time to use Vista thoroughly.  I took two weeks to exclusively use Vista as my main OS.  However, I do a lot of repair work on new computers, so my experience with it goes beyond personal use.

I'm not your grumpy end user who is grumbling because "everything seems different all the sudden!"-- I'm a power user like the rest of you, easily using the computer anywhere between 8-16 hours a day.  I don't have any pre-existing biases- as I said from the start, Vista has its merits.

Before if I was copying files into a folder and it wanted to know if I should replace the existing files, I could just hit Alt+A for "Yes to All".  Little conveniences like that don't seem to exist anymore.  Things aren't different as in better, they're just different for the sake of being different.

Obviously Microsoft would test a new OS with tons of people first-- and I'm not arguing the point-- I'm sure people love zoomy glass Windows.  Apple sells a lot of PCs, after all.  Me, I'm interested in getting things done fast and efficiently, and in the best interest of my customers I have to advise them not to waste their RAM on Vista.

I know I'm just one voice in a sea of thousands, but I'm still using my voice to say that Vista was a step in the wrong direction.  If nobody speaks up how else will Microsoft know about their mistakes?

wcitech wrote:



I know I'm just one voice in a sea of thousands, but I'm still using my voice to say that Vista was a step in the wrong direction.  If nobody speaks up how else will Microsoft know about their mistakes?

MS is too big to hear voices. They have own opinion what is right and what is wrong. And there are only two opinions - one belongs to MS, second is wrong.

Where is Tasks, such as "Copy to folder/Move to folder"? Yes, I can hack registry and include those commands in context menu, but where are they in "new UI"? Deceased with honors in MS deeps...

I'm dreaming about XP's "Explorer" in Vista plus some UI improvements made in Vista too. But... Things are already done, even if in wrong way, but it's done. MS never fixes UI. Remember Explorer's bug with context menu when Explorer takes 100% of CPU if you're clicking without selecting any item? It's still in Vista, but "covered" by stupid pointless "default" context menu.

It's easier to change whole platform to OSX rather than wait any changes from MS.

wcitech wrote:

Fixed

Wow, now you've picked an example of an operation (and corresponding dialog) that has improved immensely in Vista.

Honestly, the whole way file copying in handled (and in particular when errors occur) in Vista is one the things I miss the most when I have to use XP.