3 ms·

WinFS failed because users do not care that much about local files. Cloud is everything. Local files are even easier to lose and even harder to search than clo

WinFS failed because users do not care that much about local files. Cloud is everything. Local files are even easier to lose and even harder to search than cloud.

dleslie 3y ago
It was shelved in 2006. The product managers must have had incredible foresight if they expected cloud storage to supercede local storage. Hell, try as they might, Microsoft still doesn't have ubiquitous OneDrive usage among Windows users.
pixelesque 3y ago
First part I'd agree with: the second part I'm not sure, if only because of my experiences and frustrations of using MS OneDrive as part of my work's O365 integration: it unbelievably seems impossible to actually list all files in the web interface - I can only see "Recent" documents (which are documents I've viewed or opened, not new ones I've added), and I end up having to search to find new documents I've added (i.e. saved from Outlook, or scanned docs from printer), open them, and THEN I can see them in the main doc view. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but other colleagues have complained about the same thing, so I'm not sure...
ravenstine 3y ago
That is until The Google inexplicably locks your entire account with no recourse.
HumblyTossed 3y ago
> WinFS failed because users do not care that much about local files. Cloud is everything. This is such a web weenie take. Not everyone lives in the "cloud". So annoying that we have to call it "the cloud".
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  You should realize that people like us who understand file systems and the "files and foldors" metaphor are a very small, niche minority. Most users today don't know what a file even is[1], and even in the 90s and 00s most users still didn't understand files. Ever seen a desktop filled with icons of all sorts because the user just dumps all their files there? I'm sure you have, and most users are like that. Navigating a file system and using it is fucking pig latin nonsense to them. Couple that also with users not taking backups because it's an inconvenience (until they wish they had one), and cloud storage solves all the problems most users have had. They don't need to manage their files anymore and they're all backed up by the cloud provider; they don't need to worry about their konpoohters anymore as they go about enjoying their lives, if they even have a konpoohter at home at all anymore. [1]: https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/09/27/2032200/students-dont-know-what-files-and-folders-are-professors-say https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/09/27/2032200/students-do...
  - Izkata 3y ago
    > Ever seen a desktop filled with icons of all sorts because the user just dumps all their files there? I'm sure you have, and most users are like that. Navigating a file system and using it is fucking pig latin nonsense to them. And possibly an undervalued reason why the iphone took off. Anyone else remember this image? https://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/windows-ios-humor.jpg https://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/windows-...
tamimio 3y ago
> Local files are even easier to lose and even harder to search than cloud. Not if you have your own NAS, and you can use programs like everything (1) for an easy quick search, and you are in control of everything not under someone else’s policy mercy. (1) voidtools.com
stronglikedan 3y ago
That's funny. To me, "cloud" is just a backup that I've thankfully never had to restore from on my computer, and only ever when I get a new phone.
MrRolleyes 3y ago
[dead]

WinFS failed because users do not care that much about local files. Cloud is everything. Local files are even easier to lose and even harder to search than cloud.

dleslie 3y ago

It was shelved in 2006. The product managers must have had incredible foresight if they expected cloud storage to supercede local storage. Hell, try as they might, Microsoft still doesn't have ubiquitous OneDrive usage among Windows users.

pixelesque 3y ago

First part I'd agree with: the second part I'm not sure, if only because of my experiences and frustrations of using MS OneDrive as part of my work's O365 integration: it unbelievably seems impossible to actually list all files in the web interface - I can only see "Recent" documents (which are documents I've viewed or opened, not new ones I've added), and I end up having to search to find new documents I've added (i.e. saved from Outlook, or scanned docs from printer), open them, and THEN I can see them in the main doc view. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but other colleagues have complained about the same thing, so I'm not sure...

ravenstine 3y ago

That is until The Google inexplicably locks your entire account with no recourse.

HumblyTossed 3y ago

> WinFS failed because users do not care that much about local files. Cloud is everything. This is such a web weenie take. Not everyone lives in the "cloud". So annoying that we have to call it "the cloud".

Dalewyn 3y ago
You should realize that people like us who understand file systems and the "files and foldors" metaphor are a very small, niche minority. Most users today don't know what a file even is[1], and even in the 90s and 00s most users still didn't understand files. Ever seen a desktop filled with icons of all sorts because the user just dumps all their files there? I'm sure you have, and most users are like that. Navigating a file system and using it is fucking pig latin nonsense to them. Couple that also with users not taking backups because it's an inconvenience (until they wish they had one), and cloud storage solves all the problems most users have had. They don't need to manage their files anymore and they're all backed up by the cloud provider; they don't need to worry about their konpoohters anymore as they go about enjoying their lives, if they even have a konpoohter at home at all anymore. [1]: https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/09/27/2032200/students-dont-know-what-files-and-folders-are-professors-say https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/09/27/2032200/students-do...
- Izkata 3y ago
  > Ever seen a desktop filled with icons of all sorts because the user just dumps all their files there? I'm sure you have, and most users are like that. Navigating a file system and using it is fucking pig latin nonsense to them. And possibly an undervalued reason why the iphone took off. Anyone else remember this image? https://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/windows-ios-humor.jpg https://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/windows-...

tamimio 3y ago

> Local files are even easier to lose and even harder to search than cloud. Not if you have your own NAS, and you can use programs like everything (1) for an easy quick search, and you are in control of everything not under someone else’s policy mercy. (1) voidtools.com

stronglikedan 3y ago

That's funny. To me, "cloud" is just a backup that I've thankfully never had to restore from on my computer, and only ever when I get a new phone.

MrRolleyes 3y ago

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