Microsoft is working on a new XAML-based gallery view for the Windows 11 File Explorer that allows you to browse your photos by date, as well as through a built-in search box.
This new Gallery option can be accessed via the right sidebar of File Explorer, letting you view your pictures in one place.
In a way, it's similar to the Microsoft Photos app, but Microsoft is using XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), which brings the best of the web to desktop apps. This new Gallery view is still a work in progress and will eventually improve in a future release.
It appears that the Gallery view is optimized for touch screen devices, and BleepingComputer understands that Microsoft will expand the integration to include your pictures from OneDrive.
In the last major Windows 11 update, File Explorer got tabs feature. With tabs support, users can manage folders/directories with ease, and the experience is similar to tabs in Microsoft Edge.
Microsoft also worked on a new modern sidebar called ‘Home’, which housed options like This PC. The update also improved OneDrive integration in File Explorer, thus making it easier to find what you were looking for, allowing you to see all files in one centralized place.
You can pin and mark files as favourites like how you can already do in Microsoft 365 or OneDrive.
Additionally, Microsoft also added the contextual suggestions feature. This allows users to share files with their contacts easily.
Comments
GT500 - 1 year ago
Funny how KDE tried to get away from Konqueror as their default file manager and document viewer, and Microsoft is now is trying to turn Windows Explorer into Konqueror.
NoneRain - 1 year ago
I think everyone can find elements from others UI in any interface...
GT500 - 1 year ago
I wasn't talking about UI elements...
Konqueror was a sort of all-in-one application that was the default file manager, web browser, FTP client, and document viewer on the KDE desktop manager for Linux/Unix systems. At some point the KDE project decided to move away from using Konqueror as a file manager and document viewer, and moved to using bare-bones utilities of their own design for each function as was more traditional.
Some of these recent changes to Windows Explorer make it seem like Microsoft's design direction is the exact opposite of the one the KDE project (whatever they call themselves these days) decided to take when they moved away from using Konqueror as their default file manager.
Keep in mind that I'm not saying I disapprove. I happen to like a more functional file manager.
Shplad - 1 year ago
Yawn. Wake me up when Microsoft shows some real innovation in Windows. I haven't seen any in a long time. This is starting to feel more and more like Jobs insisting on rounding corners at an exact angle iPhones. Lots of fluff but no substance.