I don't like the user folder.

[Ray]

Nobody wanted to touch my earlier post about backing up folders so I'll say
this.

I don't like it. <stamps foot>

I want to keep all my genealogy files in one place, located in my user
folder. A folder called "Genealogy" with sub folders "Files", "Images",
"Documents" etc. I can't do this because MS has locked folder "Ray" into
showing 11 folders of their choosing when accessed from the desktop. I can
make umpteen folders within "Ray", but just MS11 show.
I wish this arrangement because then I know where all my files are, under
one roof. If I want to copy them to another drive, folder, back them up etc.
it makes it so much easier.

What to do?
I can place my folder within one of the 11, but my files consist of all
sorts of types, not very consistent with good naming practices.
Create a folder on the desktop, this would work and it would get backed up
when I backup "Ray", (I must say here that I backup to .zip files) but on
the desktop gets messy. I look upon the user folder as akin to a filing
cabinet where I get to set the filing system.
That's why I liked XP, almost everything I wanted went into there, I was
glad to see that Vista put "Contacts" in there as default.

This has been a bit of a rant, but also I'm hoping that someone can advise
if there is a better way. Vista is being touted as a new way of doing
things, so maybe there's something I'm missing because I don't see this new
way yet.
The impression I got when starting on this "Vistavoyage" was, I could put
files, lets say images, anywhere on the drive, have them tagged as belonging
to my genealogy project, and when I needed them the system would pull them
ALL into a virtual folder of some sort for my use.

And that's that

Ray

 

[Alan Simpson]

Put your Geneology folder in your Documents folder, then create all the
subfolders you want in it. It's just as easy to open your Documents folder
as it is to open your user account folder. (Though I had no problem creating
a subfolder in my user account folder in build 5472).

files, lets say images, anywhere on the drive, have them tagged as
belonging to my genealogy project...

You can. But "the system" doesn't "pull them into a virtual folder" all by
itself. You have to perform a search that finds all the files and then save
that search.

 

[Ray]

Put your Geneology folder in your Documents folder, then create all the
subfolders you want in it. It's just as easy to open your Documents folder
as it is to open your user account folder. (Though I had no problem
creating a subfolder in my user account folder in build 5472).

That's an option I had considered, but my point is (I don't do points well),
because it's a mixed bag of files it really doesn't belong in the Documents
folder, it's like putting a can of peas and carrots in with a bowl of fruit,
it just doesn't belong there.
I know this may seem petty, but when a user is trying to keep files
organised in their own little cubby hole then it becomes important to
him/her.
I have a program (Second Site) that creates a web site from my files, I want
a seperate folder for that, I don't want to have to put everything under
Documents, why not just rename Documents to User folder and MS would be able
to eliminate one whole level of folders.

You can. But "the system" doesn't "pull them into a virtual folder" all by
itself. You have to perform a search that finds all the files and then
save that search.

Yes, that's what I'm slowly finding out, Vista ain't not much different from
good ol' XP, other than security. I was watching a couple of videos the
other night about how Vista's going to change the way we use computers, well
it was very entertaining until you ask yourself, "so what's different from
how we do things now" Hmff!

(Though I had no problem creating a subfolder in my user account folder
in build 5472).

If that's how it is now, then. . . . well. . . that's all right then.

Ray

I just had several e-mails from Redmond telling me "good boy, nice feedback,
come and get a bone here(requires sign-in)
Then they slam the door in your face, no loitering.

 

[Chad Harris]

Ray--

There ain't notin' we won't touch. I don't particularly like the User folder
either, and while search and virtual folders are interesting and userful,
there are organizational features like Show in Groups that should have been
retained as options from XP.

I thought Documents and Settings was a goof brained way to organize as well.

How about the fact that still in Vista, MSFT is tin eared enough to scatter
the logs in a metastatic, ectopic fashion to the four corners of Vista
rather than in one central place despite the increased capability of Event
Viewer which does not link to the logs. Then when you find the off the
beaten path nutty non-intuitive logs, they need to be decrypted.

BTW I wouldn't trust the "feedback" icon or the public MBC as far as I could
spit them.

Email you feedback directly to these two email addresse whose owners gush
about how interested MSFT is in feedback.

(e-mail address removed)

(e-mail address removed)


CH

 

[Alan Simpson]

I can't speak for everyone. But it's definitely going to change the way I
use my computer in big, positive ways. And it's way more than XP with some
security enhancements. These things I know for sure. But everyone is
entitled to their opinion.

 

[Ray]

I would like to think so too, but so far I haven't seen anything that really
"grabs me". There was a post by one of the gurus here listing the changes in
Vista, I'd like to read it again. Can someone point me to it?

In what way will Vista change your usage Alan, can you elaborate a little.
Sometimes I just need to clean my glasses and I can see clearly now. "Play
Vista for me"

I can't believe I really said that.

Ray

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windows_Vista

 

[Chad Harris]

Alan--

I would be interested in knowning some of the "big, positive ways" it's
going to change the way you use your computer in a little detail if you
don't mind.

CH

 

[Alan Simpson]

For me it's mostly about the search index. I can treat my local data store
like any indexed database - as a black box against which I can throw queries
that return immediate results. Just like we throw queries at Google and its
index returns virtually instant results. If Google worked the way most of us
work with our file systems today, slogging through 8+ billion Web pages
trying to find whatever you're looking for, you'd be waiting months for your
search results.

This is a huge improvement over the way we've been doing things since the
days of DOS (and earlier) and floppies. And much more realistic given the
speed, capacity, and low price of today's hard drives. It just does away
with all this nonsense about "where" something it, what "type" of thing it
is, what its filename name is. These things are secondary and unimportant.
Just like they're secondary and unimportant when you do a Google search, or
any database search for that matter.

I doesn't matter if the thing I'm looking for is an e-mail message,
newsgroup post, Web page in favorites or history, picture, movie, song, text
document, source code, or whatever. That's irrelevant. I don't have to care
what it is, where it is, or what program I use to access/create it. I just
need to know it's in my local data store. From there I tap the Windows key
type a word or two and click its name on the Start menu.

And that's just one tiny example. It's way bigger and more important than
that. And will only get better with time. Vista is just the first step in
that big turning point on how we treat out personal data stores. It's not
for everyone of course. Different people use their computers in different
ways. But that's a biggie for me because I just have too much stuff in my
local data store to keep doing things with navigation, Search Rover,
wildcards, and shortcuts.