Virtual folders, stacking and a List Pane.

Microsoft has given a sneak peek at Longhorn's file navigation and search capabilities. Group vice president for platforms Jim Allchin said the embedded search technology is aimed squarely at products such as X1's search technology - and others. "This goes beyond search. What we're trying to do is provide visualisation," he said. Longhorn, due late 2006, will add keywords to files, to create "virtual folders", document "stacking" and a List Pane. Like desktop search tools, Longhorn's search function will include a preview window where users can view and cut-and-paste content without opening the file, Allchin said. The Windows Explorer folder approach remains in place, but the folders are now run vertically and appear to be open like a book with its pages partially exposed. Inside, instead of seeing generic icons for files such as a Word document, Longhorn presents snapshots of the first page in each document. Double-click on the folder and you can see thumbnails for each file that can be magnified by enlarging the window. Using this method, users can navigate to documents based on what they look like. Users can also create their own virtual folders with a point-and-click interface. In Windows XP, the "My Documents" folder includes only the files physically located in that folder but in Longhorn "My Documents" can collect all documents on the computer into a single virtual folder view, regardless of location.