5 ms·

Show HN: Modernized file manager and program manager from Windows 3.x

75 points by electroly 1y ago

This is a fork of Windows File Manager combined with a from-scratch remake of Program Manager. Fast, lightweight, and suitable for daily driver use.

JdeBP 1y ago
When I see a commit like https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/445ea8ef7018ef02540227591d1aa6ebfa8936ef https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/445ea8ef7018ef0... , I am convinced that yes, this is the original source code. (-: https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/3001b284130c399a710959e47e2f8814f7f05390 https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/3001b284130c399... is rather interesting. Not only for all of the implicit type conversions that the code turned out to be doing, but also for all of the things that were dropped. It is not totally "modernized", though. Its idea of "Unicode only" is using WTF-16 rather than UTF-8 (which is possible on Win32 nowadays with code page 65001).
- arandomhuman 1y ago
  yikes
- jeroenhd 1y ago
  Code page 65001 comes with a caveat, though: > GDI doesn't currently support setting the ActiveCodePage property per process. Instead, GDI defaults to the active system codepage. To configure your app to render UTF-8 text via GDI, go to Windows Settings > Time & language > Language & region > Administrative language settings > Change system locale, and check Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support. Then reboot the PC for the change to take effect. Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/design/globalizing/use-utf8-code-page https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/design/global... I don't think changing the system settings for one application to work is a great idea, especially as that setting can break other applications. Until Microsoft fixes GDI, I think it'll be a while before UTF-8 is a viable option.
  - JdeBP 1y ago
    Not any more, it does not. You are reading a warning that was put on that page a few years ago. Things have changed over the 6 years since Windows 10 release 1903. In particular, a couple of years later Microsoft was (interestingly, not always but sometimes, and no-one has really pinned down in what exact circumstances) turning that setting on by default in Windows 11.
- electroly 1y ago
  Author here. Indeed, the string handling is all unchanged from the original code, but on modern Windows this is still an acceptable and supported way to handle full Unicode. Try your favorite ZWJ-based emoji outside the BMP.
M95D 1y ago
[flagged]
- Narishma 1y ago
  Because they can.
  - fuzzfactor 1y ago
    Well with recent versions of Windows 11 there are breaking changes in the File Explorer that are sometimes unsurmountable if you are using the Basic Display Adapter. This might just be a quick and easy substitute. Coming from Microsoft it looks really up-to-date, showing the recognizable "inetpub" folder in the example screenshot. It is a little disappointing they have not posted an exe though.
    - jwnin 1y ago
      Binaries are available, although Windows Defender is not liking the most recent version. The previous one is fine. https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/releases/ https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/releases/
- tmtvl 1y ago
  Not because it is easy, but because it is hard.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
hulitu 1y ago
> Show HN: Modernized file manager and program manager from Windows 3.x 1 px window border and "modern" scrollbar (small, without end buttons). Modernized /s
neckro23 1y ago
The Vista-style minimize/maximize icons on the inner windows look way out of place, and the style changes entirely when I maximize. Can't seem to minimize a window either. Windows 10 is applying smooth scrolling to the windows, which I can disable in Performance Options but you might want to override the setting. Waiting for the scrolling to catch up is pretty at odds with the "fast, lightweight" aesthetic you're going for.
- electroly 1y ago
  Thank you for trying it! Those MDI titlebars/controls bother me too. I haven't decided what to do about it. Microsoft hasn't updated MDI functionality since Windows 7. These days, people simply don't use MDI at all. Minimize is disabled because it's too buggy currently, but I plan to bring it back. In the old days it would minimize to an icon but these days it minimizes to a tiny sliver of a titlebar that's impossible to click on. For Program Manager, I implemented a manual workaround (literally, my own minimized icon bar), but I haven't implemented that in File Manager yet. Definitely something I have planned for the future. Thanks for the tip about smooth scrolling. I have it disabled in Performance Options, so I never noticed.
  - vintagedave 1y ago
    MDI has never been updated for Windows 10 or newer. Which is a shame because even if it's not the modern way, older apps exist... Delphi / C++Builder wrote a new implementation of MDI to keep older apps working, but looking modern. (It means MDI-architected apps can use, eg, tabs for windows too while keeping the old code the same.) https://blogs.embarcadero.com/3-x-12-vcl-enhancements-in-delphi-12/#In_VCL_MDI_and_Forms_management https://blogs.embarcadero.com/3-x-12-vcl-enhancements-in-del...
    - electroly 1y ago
      Oh! That's interesting. Maybe I could replicate that look. Thank you for the link!
timbit42 1y ago
The worst thing about Windows 3.x was Program Manager. The second worst thing was File Manager. I always install IBM's Workplace Shell for Windows on Windows 3.x which replaces PM and FM with a shell that looks and works like the OS/2 Workplace Shell. It's open source and the installer is available here: https://winworldpc.com/product/ibm-workplace-shell/151 https://winworldpc.com/product/ibm-workplace-shell/151
- _mlbt 1y ago
  Source code for it can be found here… https://github.com/ericblade/workplace-shell-for-windows https://github.com/ericblade/workplace-shell-for-windows
nashashmi 1y ago
Needs keyboard shortcuts

75 points by electroly 1y ago

This is a fork of Windows File Manager combined with a from-scratch remake of Program Manager. Fast, lightweight, and suitable for daily driver use.

JdeBP 1y ago

When I see a commit like https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/445ea8ef7018ef02540227591d1aa6ebfa8936ef https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/445ea8ef7018ef0... , I am convinced that yes, this is the original source code. (-: https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/3001b284130c399a710959e47e2f8814f7f05390 https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/commit/3001b284130c399... is rather interesting. Not only for all of the implicit type conversions that the code turned out to be doing, but also for all of the things that were dropped. It is not totally "modernized", though. Its idea of "Unicode only" is using WTF-16 rather than UTF-8 (which is possible on Win32 nowadays with code page 65001).

arandomhuman 1y ago
yikes
jeroenhd 1y ago
Code page 65001 comes with a caveat, though: > GDI doesn't currently support setting the ActiveCodePage property per process. Instead, GDI defaults to the active system codepage. To configure your app to render UTF-8 text via GDI, go to Windows Settings > Time & language > Language & region > Administrative language settings > Change system locale, and check Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support. Then reboot the PC for the change to take effect. Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/design/globalizing/use-utf8-code-page https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/design/global... I don't think changing the system settings for one application to work is a great idea, especially as that setting can break other applications. Until Microsoft fixes GDI, I think it'll be a while before UTF-8 is a viable option.
- JdeBP 1y ago
  Not any more, it does not. You are reading a warning that was put on that page a few years ago. Things have changed over the 6 years since Windows 10 release 1903. In particular, a couple of years later Microsoft was (interestingly, not always but sometimes, and no-one has really pinned down in what exact circumstances) turning that setting on by default in Windows 11.
electroly 1y ago
Author here. Indeed, the string handling is all unchanged from the original code, but on modern Windows this is still an acceptable and supported way to handle full Unicode. Try your favorite ZWJ-based emoji outside the BMP.

M95D 1y ago

[flagged]

Narishma 1y ago
Because they can.
- fuzzfactor 1y ago
  Well with recent versions of Windows 11 there are breaking changes in the File Explorer that are sometimes unsurmountable if you are using the Basic Display Adapter. This might just be a quick and easy substitute. Coming from Microsoft it looks really up-to-date, showing the recognizable "inetpub" folder in the example screenshot. It is a little disappointing they have not posted an exe though.
  - jwnin 1y ago
    Binaries are available, although Windows Defender is not liking the most recent version. The previous one is fine. https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/releases/ https://github.com/brianluft/heirloom/releases/
tmtvl 1y ago
Not because it is easy, but because it is hard.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]

hulitu 1y ago

> Show HN: Modernized file manager and program manager from Windows 3.x 1 px window border and "modern" scrollbar (small, without end buttons). Modernized /s

neckro23 1y ago

The Vista-style minimize/maximize icons on the inner windows look way out of place, and the style changes entirely when I maximize. Can't seem to minimize a window either. Windows 10 is applying smooth scrolling to the windows, which I can disable in Performance Options but you might want to override the setting. Waiting for the scrolling to catch up is pretty at odds with the "fast, lightweight" aesthetic you're going for.

electroly 1y ago
Thank you for trying it! Those MDI titlebars/controls bother me too. I haven't decided what to do about it. Microsoft hasn't updated MDI functionality since Windows 7. These days, people simply don't use MDI at all. Minimize is disabled because it's too buggy currently, but I plan to bring it back. In the old days it would minimize to an icon but these days it minimizes to a tiny sliver of a titlebar that's impossible to click on. For Program Manager, I implemented a manual workaround (literally, my own minimized icon bar), but I haven't implemented that in File Manager yet. Definitely something I have planned for the future. Thanks for the tip about smooth scrolling. I have it disabled in Performance Options, so I never noticed.
- vintagedave 1y ago
  MDI has never been updated for Windows 10 or newer. Which is a shame because even if it's not the modern way, older apps exist... Delphi / C++Builder wrote a new implementation of MDI to keep older apps working, but looking modern. (It means MDI-architected apps can use, eg, tabs for windows too while keeping the old code the same.) https://blogs.embarcadero.com/3-x-12-vcl-enhancements-in-delphi-12/#In_VCL_MDI_and_Forms_management https://blogs.embarcadero.com/3-x-12-vcl-enhancements-in-del...
  - electroly 1y ago
    Oh! That's interesting. Maybe I could replicate that look. Thank you for the link!

timbit42 1y ago

The worst thing about Windows 3.x was Program Manager. The second worst thing was File Manager. I always install IBM's Workplace Shell for Windows on Windows 3.x which replaces PM and FM with a shell that looks and works like the OS/2 Workplace Shell. It's open source and the installer is available here: https://winworldpc.com/product/ibm-workplace-shell/151 https://winworldpc.com/product/ibm-workplace-shell/151

_mlbt 1y ago
Source code for it can be found here… https://github.com/ericblade/workplace-shell-for-windows https://github.com/ericblade/workplace-shell-for-windows

nashashmi 1y ago

Needs keyboard shortcuts