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Open Source Microsoft Operating Systems Software Windows

Microsoft Open-Sources Original File Manager From the 1990s So It Can Run On Windows 10 (theverge.com) 173

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Microsoft is releasing the source code for its original Windows File Manager from nearly 28 years ago. Originally released for Windows 3.0, the File Manager was a replacement for managing files through MS-DOS, and allowed Windows users to copy, move, delete, and search for files. While it's a relic from the past, you can still compile the source code Microsoft has released and run the app on Windows 10 today. The source code is available on GitHub, and is maintained by Microsoft veteran Craig Wittenberg under the MIT license. Wittenberg copied the File Manager code from Windows NT 4 back in 2007, and has been maintaining it before open sourcing it recently. It's a testament to the backward compatibility of Windows itself, especially that this was originally included in Windows more than 20 years ago.
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Microsoft Open-Sources Original File Manager From the 1990s So It Can Run On Windows 10

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  • by Atomic Fro ( 150394 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @03:00PM (#56408087)

    How about open sourcing the Midi Manager so we can run that on Windows 10.
    I like my old games with MIDI music to use my hardware, not your awful software implementation.

    • by pmsr ( 560617 )

      Just use Coolsoft Midimapper: https://coolsoft.altervista.or... [altervista.org]

    • Sadly, MS doesn't care about musicians anymore. :-/ When was the last time you actually heard them talk about kernel latency? MS has embraced mediocrity for so long that they wouldn't know the first thing about inspiring greatness. Hell they STILL don't understand UI's -- they just copy the lastest fad of the decade.

      While all the cool kids are using DAWs (Digital Audio Workstation) and VSTs (Virtual Instrument) it seems like most of the creative types migrated over to the OSX. Apple _used_ to care with

      • Hell they STILL don't understand UI's

        Sure they do. It's called PowerShell.

      • At least they still ship GarageBand (last time I checked)

        Not only still ship, they are actively still developing it (and Logic and MainStage, too)

      • MIDI has been a forgotten step child -- which sucks.

        Time to buy those old MIDI devices off eBay while we still can.

        I'm not sure I'd agree with that. MIDI is alive and well. It's just a lot of the dedicated MIDI-driven hardware has long since gone obsolete in favor of pure software solutions, which I think are ultimately both more powerful and easier to use, if slightly less impressive to look at. But MIDI is still the universal language of digital instruments.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Actually Microsoft mostly fixed kernel latency with Vista, when they introduced WASAPI. The system was further improved with every iteration, and Windows 10 is actually pretty good.

        https://docs.microsoft.com/en-... [microsoft.com]

        0ms latency for all applications, even using the mixer.

  • by david.emery ( 127135 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @03:03PM (#56408103)

    It's a testament to the backward compatibility of Windows itself, especially that this was originally included in Windows more than 20 years ago.

    Gee, that would date this code to about the same time we were doing the POSIX standards that codified a (then) 20 year old Unix interface.

    • by bill_mcgonigle ( 4333 ) * on Monday April 09, 2018 @03:07PM (#56408137) Homepage Journal

      Well, most of the files have the commit message "Original WinFile sources plus changes to build with VS" so it's not exactly source-compatible. The API might be but that's also how we get DDE & OLE vulnerabilities in modern code, etc. There are trade-offs.

      • by darkain ( 749283 )

        Serious question: how many 16-bit applications do you know run natively on 64-bit hardware? If you read the notes, that is the majority of the changes. The other major change was statically linking against a particular DLL file (again, another 16-bit binary), and updating to current APIs. The vast majority of the code otherwise still works. Also as a note: WinFile predates OLE, and is actually something that has been added to the upgraded version in this code base too!

      • by Bert64 ( 520050 )

        A lot of very old unix applications will still build and run on modern linux systems today, including a lot of code that actually predates linux.

        Windows is generally better at binary compatibility, largely due to keeping all the legacy dll files present in the default install while linux distros have long since removed old libs from the default install as very few people would ever use them (almost anything old that you might still want to use will have since been recompiled against the new libs).

        For source

        • Command-line stuff? Sure. Graphical stuff? Not so much. The core X11 protocol is the same, but a bunch of early X applications used X extensions that are no longer working well (or supported at all) on modern X systems. And that's assuming a statically-linked binary. Getting hold of early versions of KDE libraries is painful. Motif programs may work with an updated library, but copy and paste are now done differently by FD.o apps so don't expect copy and paste or drag and drop to work (you might have
    • Gee, that would date this code to about the same time we were doing the POSIX standards that codified a (then) 20 year old Unix interface.

      Gee, that didn't define an entire GUI/Windowing system.

      Don't get me wrong, I love POSIX as much as the next guy, but it's a far more limited thing than WIN32. The closest NIX comparison would be GTK, I think.

      • Other standards at the same time did, in particular the Common Desktop Environment. The X11 protocol still works and Motif was open sourced so you can still run 1993 Motif apps on a modern X system. For a given value of run...
        • by Damouze ( 766305 )

          Other standards at the same time did, in particular the Common Desktop Environment. The X11 protocol still works and Motif was open sourced so you can still run 1993 Motif apps on a modern X system. For a given value of run...

          CDE was opensourced a while ago as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

          • Huh, I remember Motif being open sourced, but apparently I missed the rest of CDE. I used it on Solaris for a while but it was pretty dated even then.
    • GUIs are driven more by taste than tech, so backwards compatibility with GUIs is far more difficult and impressive.

      Even 20 years ago, many UN*X systems didn't even have a GUI, let alone have a decent one, let alone a set of standards. As a semi-power user, the lack of a good GUI is what always kept me away from Linux, and for the most part, it still does.

      • It was a running joke where I worked in the '80s and '90s that the only reason I ran X Windows on my Sun workstation was because the scrolling in its "glass TTY mode" was so slow. There's a lot of truth to that. After X Windows launched, I launched EMACS and 2 shells. One was the command line for compiling, linking, etc, and the other was the game of Rogue I played when the compiler/linker was running.

        (This was for software that did not have a significant user interface.)

        And I still do stuff on the comma

  • by Anonymous Coward

    They should import the source immediately.

    • ^This.

      Did File Manager have the ability to bookmark a location... because I don't think the current Gnome "Files" app can. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will say! :D
  • Not sure how well it holds up, but I remember strongly preferring to keep using the old "File Manager" even when "Explorer" became the preferred solution when Windows 95 was released. Not sure where along the way I begrudgingly gave it up (probably as long filenames became more popular - IIRC it was always limited to the 8.3 format).

    • The version that shipped with NT4 supported long file names - it was a straight port of the NT3.51 version where it was default and had to support long file names because NTFS did from the start. Windows 95 just included the 3.11 version. I seem to recall that you could just copy the NT version to a 95 system and have it work. I also vaguely remember that Windows 98 imported the NT version.
  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @03:11PM (#56408151)

    This seems more like Microsoft tossing bread to the Open Source community, appearing to be generous, while they are just interested in watching the infighting for the scraps.

    The File Manager is something that is relatively easy to make yourself, especially from such an old version. If they were to release the one they are using currently, that may mean a bit more. Just as it has a lot more features that may take a while to catalog and implement yourself.

    • Do we absoloutely have to always hate Microsoft here?

      This is very obviously them doing something 'fun'
      At least they aren't google, far, far more evil nowadays.

      • I am not trying to hate Microsoft here. It is just that File Explorer is such a small tool. It is like them releasing the source code for the Clock App, or the Calculator.
        While the applications themselves are not without value, they are easily copied without the need of source code, even for beginner programmers.

  • by DarkOx ( 621550 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @03:22PM (#56408209) Journal

    Really?

    I mean there has to be a bazillion alternative file manages for Windows out there if you don't like Explorer for some reason and power shell and or good old cmd.exe/command.com + xcopy, deltree and friends won't cut it for you.

    Even back in 1993 - winfile was something people without a copy of Norton Desktop used; in other words poor people, and folks with no common sense.

    • You might be a good potential user for Far Manager [farmanager.com]

      • by DarkOx ( 621550 )

        NDW and Norton Commander - not the same thing.

        NDW 3.0 was still a better shell + file manager than the modern windows desktop. If it could handle hi-res and long file names; I'd still be using it.

    • Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure?

      Lameness filter encountered. Your comment violated the "postercomment" compression filter. Try less whitespace and/or less repetition.

      Dang it! That's the joke! Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure?

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Check out Lazy Game Reviews (LGR) on YouTube. The guy loves 90s era PCs and his enthusiasm is infectious.

      The other day he bought a top of the range Windows 95 laptop in mint condition. At the time it cost about $5000, which is over $8000 today. He powered it up for the first time, the classic Windows 95 start-up tune kicked in and the speakers ratted and distorted like the cheap 90s era 9000W PMPO crap they are, and it was glorious.

      The old X10 system for DOS was pretty good too. Back then it was pretty awes

  • Here I had my heart all set on getting Clippy back onto my Windows 10 You're Totally Fucked Spring Edition and they give me File Manager? WTF!?!? Talk about lame.

    • A pic exists somewhere with me sitting next to Clippy in Microsoft's Cleveland area office. Had to be there for a work conference (I do use MS products in my day job), and they all knew I was a Linux geek, so they thought that would be hilarious. In hindsight I suppose it sort of is. Wish I'd gotten a copy. BTW . . . isn't every Windows version the "YTFE"??
  • by bigmacx ( 135216 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @03:33PM (#56408285)

    ...THE reference file management tool for PC geeks

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norton_Commander

    I still use Midnight Commander on Linux from time to time, especially for quick side-by-side file/dir moves (the viewing of diff's between them is nice) and searching for content inside lots of files

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Commander

    • by thelexx ( 237096 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @04:08PM (#56408497)

      Preach it brother. Midnight Commander is the best. Thunar and the like are pretty, but work gets done with mc.

    • by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 09, 2018 @04:52PM (#56408689)

      XTree Gold was much better

      • by bigmacx ( 135216 )

        LOL, figures an AC would bring the Xtree reference. Xtree was good, but just plain ugly looking compared to NC. I used both as needed, but NC was my go-to tool in the road warrior floppy toolbox

    • I still use Midnight Commander on Linux from time to time

      I still use Midnight Commander... period. It is absolutely awesome. On windows I use Directory Opus which is also a keyboard shortcutable dual window file manager.

    • Far Manager [farmanager.com] is a good substitute.

    • by fat_mike ( 71855 )
      If I had Mod points I'd give them to you. I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday but totally remember Commander and how fast it was with the shortcut and arrow keys once you remembered them.
      • by bigmacx ( 135216 )

        WordPerfect for DOS and a well-trained office assistant could bang out an award winning letter out faster than a speeding train.

        Paper keyboard templates...those were the days

    • by bigmacx ( 135216 )

      LOL@ all the low-numbered reply'ers to this post. We're soo old. Gonna be a real riot around the floor shuffleboard in a few years...

      "I remember when there was a real chance of getting electrocuted by just touching a computer's front-panel power switch!!!"

    • Look at this adorable little chap, thinking Norton Commander even comes close to Xtree Gold, I just wanna rub your nose and pinch your cheek.

      http://www.ztree.com/ [ztree.com] my good man, http://www.ztree.com/ [ztree.com]

    • I used NC in DOS in the 90s, then WindowsCommander in windows 3, then the name change at one point to TotalCommander, I still use it in win10, it is at version 9.12. Yes I bought it like 15 years ago. I don't know how to use the Windows File Interface, I only use TC.

  • by fredrated ( 639554 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @04:26PM (#56408563) Journal

    print a list of files in a directory, like Dir>PRN.

    • Can't you just email a screenshot of explorer into the cloud and have it automagically appear on the printer right next to you as determined by the ever watchful eye of Facebook knowing where you are at any given moment?

    • by imidan ( 559239 )
      Used to do that, then cut the listing out and slip it into the sleeve with the 5.25" floppy. So much faster to find a file without having to put each disk in and pull a directory listing. Of course, you had to keep it updated.
  • What do you do to maintain code that's 28 years old that nobody uses? Was he updating it for Windows 10? Shows what I know about it.
  • I am not a dev but always interested in the stuff that goes on here. Could this be of any benefit to the ReactOS team?
    • No. Their code is way past this.Unlikely to learn anything.

        Certainly you could run winfile on ReactOS but there's no demand to include it.

  • Sounds to me like someone inside Microsoft grabbed the source code for the NT4 version of File Manager and patched it up for his own personal use on internal systems. Then he asked his manager if he could release it on Github so he could use it at home, too.

    He was probably completely shocked when he actually got approval.

    I'd be shocked if it was part of any particular open source strategy on the part of Microsoft.

  • by hcs_$reboot ( 1536101 ) on Monday April 09, 2018 @06:38PM (#56409165)
    "compile the source code and run the app" is where we know the article was written by a non-programmer.
  • If you deleted a bunch of files, it would refresh the entire list between every delete, causing it to take an agonizingly long time. Copy / paste had the same problem.

    They fixed this in Windows 3.1, and then proceeded to find ways to make the process take longer ever since, mostly by trying to compute how long the process would take. Nowadays, it takes Windows as long to do the time calculation, as it would to just delete the files!

  • At least they used to, not sure about Windows 10.
    I managed to hack together a semi-functional desktop environment that looked like Windows 3.1 because NT 3.51 apps looked the same and were compiled for 32-bit Windows APIs.

  • by sad_ ( 7868 )

    now release the rest of the windows 3.1 sourcode.

  • This isn't very interesting at this point IMO but if they could opensource the whole Windows 7 UI so that it could run in Win 10 that would be something else :P

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