New Windows 11 feature blitz: File Explorer is finally getting tabs

[admin]

At Microsoft’s Future of Hybrid Work event, Microsoft showed off several features that the company plans to bring to Windows 11. Microsoft didn’t provide a timetable for when they’ll be arriving, however. Some of them also are specific to particular applications; a number of features will be used for videoconferencing, for example, with automatic camera framing and a feature called Eye Contact. Others, such as Live Captions, have been previously revealed before as part of Microsoft’s Windows Insider program and should be scheduled for a fall release.

Sets, though, makes sense just because the concept is simple and straightforward. Instead of multiple open windows of File Explorer, Microsoft will provide a tabbed interface instead, like you see in browsers. Finally. When Microsoft sent a top executive around to demonstrate the Sets technology in 2017, the company planned to make the tabbed interface one that would unify Edge, File Explorer, Calendar, and a few other apps presenting a consolidated, streamlined interface. That never happened, however.

Microsoft now seems like they want to resolve some of the shortcomings of File Explorer — namely, that the concept of a local file is becoming quickly outdated. Instead, Microsoft is using a technology it’s calling ContextIQ to try and pull the most relevant files in response to a search query. In November, it launched ContextIQ for Microsoft Dynamics, to do two things: find relevant files and suggest contacts to share them with. (Microsoft cited a Wakefield Research report that said employees mentioned finding a relevant document as the number-one barrier to remote work.) It applied this technology in Microsoft Editor, specifically for Microsoft Outlook.