At the heart of a modern operating system, File Explorer is logically the most prominent feature of Windows 11.
In the space of a few days, several new features of the Windows 11 File Explorer have been presented by specialized magazines. New features that have sometimes been mentioned by Microsoft, but which are not yet planned for the usual versions of Windows. They are actually limited to the builds of the operating system that are only accessible to subscribers of the Windows Insider service.
First of all, the presentation of images, photos and other illustrations stored on the machine or a little further away will be retouched. The idea is to achieve a presentation in the form of a "gallery" that looks quite similar to what can be found on a smartphone with Android or iOS. The option is accessible from the sidebar of the File Explorer. From then on, the display of all the images changes radically, resulting in a more aesthetic presentation, but also more practical thanks to the presence of several sorting options and an integrated search bar. According to the first users of this feature, it is also optimized for touch platforms and it does not only concern the illustrations stored locally, but also those found via your OneDrive account.
In the meantime, we heard about another new feature planned for File Explorer, the presence of a "file recommendation" system. In other words, Microsoft would like to highlight the documents that users are most likely to want to consult before they express their wish. For now, this is reserved for Windows Insider subscribers, but also and especially for users connected with an Azure Active Directory account. A very clear way to underline the professional aspect of this feature. If it does not yet go into the details of its new feature, Microsoft probably studies the habits of connected users to deduce the documents they need at the moment. Recommended documents are then added to a panel already containing recent documents and favorites.
It would be interesting to know how precisely these recommendations work and, more importantly, to determine their limits. Microsoft says it is " studying the feedback and seeing what it is before sending it to everyone ", but this feature already raises the question of collecting information about users' habits.
