14 DAY TRIAL // If you’re in the market for a new file manager and don’t want to wait until Microsoft brings tabs to File Explorer with the Redstone 5 update in the fall, here’s something for you.
The software giant has recently decided to open-source the version of File Manager that shipped with Windows 3.0, making it possible to run it on Windows 10 with a little compiling work in Visual Studio 2015 or 2017.
The application was released in the early 1990s, so it goes without saying that it received several tweaks to bring it in line with today’s tech. For instance, it was a 16-bit app, so Microsoft’s Craig Wittenberg had to optimize the app to be able to run on 64-bit Windows 10.
Wittenberg has released two versions of the source code, one of which includes the original source for WinFile with just minimal changes to support Visual Studio and run on modern Windows.
The other version includes several changes and feature additions that Microsoft’s engineer implemented, like drag and drop support, context menus in both panes, simple forward and back navigation, as well as subdirectory support for search.
The modern file manager
Microsoft itself is working to revamp the default Windows file manager, and one of the biggest changes in the next Windows 10 version will be the addition of tabs with a feature called Sets.
While this has been one of the most requested features for File Explorer, Sets enables tabs all across the operating system in a way that makes working within the same window a thing that comes in extremely handy.
There were rumors that Microsoft could be planning a UWP version of File Explorer, but nothing has been said on this front lately, despite the company’s push for such apps in Windows 10.
Redstone 5 is projected to launch in the fall with tabs for File Explorer, but members of the Windows Insider program can already try this feature out if they’re enrolled in the Skip Ahead ring.