I kind of enjoy the libraries, since I long ago wound up using areas in file system on diverse disks & so on. Libraries seem to
offer a rather simple way to aggregate the various storage spots into one area for easy accessibility, not unlike junction points or
sym links. However, I agree, few people I know spend as much time & effort on such things as I & may or may not benefit by them.
What I miss is that that Windows 7 seems to somewhat mess up what was so elegantly designed in Windows Vista, leaving this or that
out (perhaps to simplify the task of satisfying consumer demands for effort & learning & work free utility & functionality of some
types) till we finally find a way to reintegrate the Windows Vista schema into Windows 7. IE, the "Homeshare" outline conveniently
leaves out this or that, & the user configurability seems limited to the preconfigured libraries, although I imagine one could add
to a library whatever one chose. What is lost in that is the clarity & simplicity of design so that forward movement is from a more
fundamental environment.
Some things I'd like to see include apparent UI methods to add to the basic configuration of the Vista outline, for example, in
addition to Music & Videos & Favorites in the user profile, one could add "Books," & so on, & easily set it up to inherit the same
settings as the built in template items. It would be good to be able to easily add customized folder views, such as a view for
folders that contain shortcuts, that includes the link target in the detail view as a custom design in addition to originally
included (so that any folder could be customized to that new view from the newly created, custom template), also, to add customized
fields to file detail views that could include other information related to a file (when one looks at the properties of a file,
etc.), add applications & so on to WMC, to bypass system constraints or perhaps create a specialized profile for use when one uses
low level utilities & so on, etc. I have found that there are ways to do many if not all such things, but, when wanted, the
information is rarely available, so the tasks remain undone, since, when the inspiration is present, the information is missing.
That in turn leads me to wonder if there should be some more comprehensive method of identifying actual needs & interests when
accessing help, but, the danger is that the same functionality that would make that possible also could be manipulated, creating
hostile or destructive effects, instead of the desired, constructive effect - much as happens when some people are constantly
harassed or bothered by others who have something to gain by doing harm.
Post by TeacherComment first: Who do I send comments to, like: Why can't Microsoft keep it
simple - one website for HELP! instead of Discussion Groups; Dashboard;
Windows Live; etc. etc. etc.
Question: Again who do I send questions to, like: What's the matter with
Microsoft! Libraries????? I would understand if they renamed My Documents
Libraries, but to create ANOTHER filing system is not necessary. I've been
teaching Microsoft products for over 15 years and one of the most difficult
subjects for student to grasp is File Management, and now Microsoft offers
Libraries. Why?????? Do they have to be used????