This is one of those concepts that makes you want to look at it. And if Windows had always looked like this, it would probably be the prettiest and most visually mature system. This is only about Explorer, but it is easy to translate it into the “whole” OS.
A fan concept prepared by designer Abdi, also known as AR 4789, shows what a thoroughly rebuilt File Explorer for a hypothetical Windows 12 could look like. As for Windows 12, I recently wrote a text about it for you, in which I showed in a quite simple way that the recent media “hype” on this topic is just wishful thinking mixed with the tragic translation of PC-WORLD from German. If Microsoft is preparing something, it’s not a successor, but a package of improvements as part of subsequent updates. But let’s not talk about that, let’s get to the concept that is most important here.
Abdi’s vision is based on the Fluent design language and the very real problems of the current “eleven” that he would like to eliminate (very rightly). The design features file collections, a consistent dark mode, smarter search, and a cleaner interface for data properties and retrieval. If this were available in Windows 11 today, Microsoft wouldn’t have to be so afraid of Apple’s entry into the mid/low segment of the personal computer world.
More readable and better
The Explorer icon on the taskbar remains virtually unchanged, but once inside, you see an application designed as if someone had finally thought: “what do people use most often?” Fluent Design is present here, but not just as a marketing slogan, but as a way to organize space. That’s how it was advertised, at the time.
There is a mechanism that allows you to drag files from the same category to a common collection and pin it in the navigation panel. It would then be easier to group documents for work, photos from a trip or materials for one project without having to juggle folders. It would turn the current way of working with the OS upside down, but… it would be a sensible change. After all, Windows grew out of the idea of ”simpler file management”, but it has a harder time helping you to sensibly deal with the mess that is always being created.
Let’s enjoy (not only) the little things
Finally, there’s a consistent dark mode here. The one in Windows 11 can look as if part of the interface was updated, while the rest was left in the previous design era. In Abdi’s concept, File Explorer looks great (in terms of consistency), with no glaring bright elements popping out of nowhere.
The project also includes widgets in Explorer itself, showing the content of the collection and disk space usage. Why do we have to click through windows to check what is taking up space on disks/partitions? There’s also a refreshed file properties view and a data restore feature that can help you recover content without much hassle. It’s also interesting film strip view for photos – something like a carousel for viewing photos.
Artificial intelligence? Yes. In excess? NO
Artificial intelligence could not be missing, although in Windows it is “averagely well perceived”. In this case, the idea actually has arms and legs: the search engine would understand the intention and context, and not just match the file name character by character, as was the case in the old days. Until now, it was worth knowing at least the structure of the name of the file you were looking for in order to find it and develop the habit of determining such names that would then be easy to search for. In this concept you can easily forget about it.
It is also possible to give folders and icons different colors, which is basically a “cut” from macOS. When working on a large number of documents, photos and projects: this is an incredible value. And although it’s just a concept from a fan, this thing says a lot about Windows. There are people who wonder “how it should be”, even though they don’t work at Microsoft. If I were to judge the giant for such modifications in the Explorer, I would probably bang my forehead on the floor in front of him while bowing.
Microsoft knows that now is its move
Today, it seems more likely that Microsoft will continue to patch Windows 11’s weaknesses and organize its own strategy around artificial intelligence, rather than suddenly pulling out a new generation of the system. And this is a critical moment. It is not without reason that Apple attacked the medium (not low, there are even cheaper laptops) price shelf of personal computers with the MacBook Neo, which in simple applications will beat an equivalent Windows laptop in price and you won’t even feel it: despite such “anti-tastes” as 8 GB of RAM, the lack of a backlit keyboard and a poor offer of ports.
Read also: Microsoft has known this bug in Windows for a long time. He further “fixes” it
Microsoft should make some good moves now: but was such a thing expected at all for the giant? It’s hard to say and I have no idea if the company is even ready for this. Windows is a system that has a lot of legacy from previous versions: the need for backward compatibility, a lot of influences resulting from user habits and, it seems to me, the fear that the new products will be received very coldly. This was the case with the innovative Windows 8, the idea of which was abandoned with 8.1 and… eventually, in Windows 10. Windows 11, however, completely distanced itself from tiles.
