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If I remember correctly, it was a regular folder with a special icon. The intention was that you could drag&drop it to some removable media to move between computers.
I guess MS envisioned it as a digital replacement for the physical suitcase of documents you'd bring to/from work.
Furthermore, this "digital replacement" strategy can be seen in other (now mostly defunct) MS programs such as that program that was bundled with windows 3.11 ( I think it was called wincard.exe) that mimiced a rolodex.
I'll take my MCSE now, thank you.
EDIT: Seems there was some sync stuff with it as well. I'll settle for some junior certification, thank you.
It was more than just a special icon for a folder, it had special behaviour too. Without looking it up (in the spirit of the meme), I seem to remember that it would automatically sync the files any time that you insert the floppy disk, kind of like having Dropbox but without the internet. The idea being that you would have files on your computer that you could take with you somewhere else (in your briefcase, on a floppy disk) and all instances of that briefcase would automatically sync the latest updates of the files without you having to manually copy them and work out which was the latest version of a file.
It was more than just a special icon for a folder, it had special behaviour too.
How much you bet that the code is still somewhere in explorer.exe?
Wait, isn't this similiar to the homesyncd thing?
I bet it's the same code that does the same sync today
I'd put even money that Offline Files is the same code just with a different UI.
I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that OneDrive has some of that code
I'd give you both the award.
I think it was very slightly more than a regular folder in that there was a sync wizard IIRC.
I think you set it up with a piece of removable media and then you could press the sync button when it was present to take the newest file from either the removable media or the local disk. I also vaguely remember a conflict resolution screen where if both copies had changed you could keep one, the other or both. I'm trying to remember if you could have a 3-point sync where you used the removable media as a way of keeping the briefcase on your home and work computers in sync, but I never used that feature if it did exist.
So yeah, It didn't do much more than just dragging and dropping (as I think the OS dialog had similar conflict resolution at least from windows 98ish) but the two way aspect was pretty useful.
Yep - it kept files in sync.
I never used it, though I always thought it was useful idea. Not sure how problematic it could be how did it handle collisions?)
It handled collisions very very poorly.
I used it for a while, but gave up after it shit its pants when a file had been independently modified on the two systems.
The "digital replacement" nonsense is also why we now have "folders" instead of "directories". This thing gave me so many awkward flashbacks.
Go back 40/50 years, and most people then thought of directories as an index (see telephone directory), and folders were thing that contained/were files within a filing cabinet.
I still have a hard time calling them folders, it gives me a little eye twitch to say "folder", though I know the icon is a folder, and it makes it easier for the average person to grok.
Fuck the icon. You don’t
mkfoldyoumkdir. You don’tcfyoucd. They’re obviously directories.Lol, preach!
Yeeeah, I'm there, too. It helps that in my native language people still use "directory" frequently. It's an obscure enough word that it just took on that primary meaning smoothly. Folder is more confusing.
I always felt that way, even at the time. All the skeuomorphism seems silly now, but it felt even sillier coming from DOS and being used to things being very abstract before.
Did you just throw grok in there? That's awesome. I've never seen anyone do that before.
After looking, not only does Webster's Dictionary list it as a real word, it lists it as the only English word derived from Martian.
It’s definitely a word you get exposed to the deeper into Unix shit you get, until you inevitably wind up using it yourself.
Some very cool billionaires use it, too :-(
Yeah fuck that guy and his co-opting of established terms.
his LARPing as an actual techie is offensive
I completely changed my mind on this a bunch of years ago when I did a lot of work with LDAP. “Directory” may have seemed a good choice at the time, but now we have so many things which are directories and fit the IRL definition better, to look up information. Meanwhile “folders” fit the IRL definition better, for things that contain and organize files
At this point they're both used so interchangeably it doesn't matter, honestly. "Directory" is going to keep slipping out for me because it's grandfathered in, but I genuinely don't even keep track of which one I use more frequently or which platforms use one or the other in their messaging.
Meanwhile apple tells you to put your removable media in the trash.
That always bothered me, from the start.
"Apple is more intuitive" oh really?
It’s awful. It’s like if you used a menu called Start to shut down Windows.
Lol, yea, that annoyed the hell out of me from... The start! 😁
At least it wasn't trashing a floppy to eject it (oh, so I'm not erasing the whole disk, because trashing a folder deletes the entire folder).
They both have issues like this, I just find Apple to be less intuitive in general (and I've worked with it since about 1985, even spent a couple years doing desktop publishing with a Mac for work).
I never liked calling it the Start menu. I understand why they did it (makes it obvious for new users), but I could never think of a better name.
Explain please?
The apple way to eject a disk was to drag the disk icon into the trash.
What the fuck
Since OS X they swapped the trash icon for an eject icon when you start dragging a removable disk. So they hint at it in some way.
Incidentally, this is why the trash icon is on the right side of the dock, and cannot be removed. You need it to eject disks due to a decision to account for the lack of a second mouse button.
Briefcase cased, so SyncThing could sync.
Lol, nice.
Offline Files is essentially the same functionality as the briefcase (no idea if it's the same code).
You mentioned wincard, but you didn't mention Bob. If you don't know about it, you should really look.
I have a copy. So, so, so, so awful
Yeah, but I love that it exists. I also have a copy.
I full agreement.
I'll load it up occasionally just to revisit. Conceptually interesting, just God awful implementation.
Norton Desktop was a GUI to replace Windows Program Manager in Win 3.1/NT 3.51 in the early 90's that had a Desktop concept (Windows 95 looked much like it), though it had some Bob-like functionality if I remember right.
I'll have to look into that. Im not familiar enough to with Norton desktop to know about those features. I have many fond memories of windows 3.1 and NT 3.51 though. First desktop and personal server oses I ever ran. Interestingly enough, I ran windows 3.1 on an IBM PS1, and on boot it had a desktop replacement type graphical menu to access some organizational tools. I wonder how many more things like that were common and I just didn't have any experience with them.
this "digital replacement" strategy
skeuomorphism
TIL...
I guess MS envisioned it as a digital replacement for the physical suitcase of documents you'd bring to/from work.
The whole computer was originally visualized as a digital office replacement. That's why you have the "desktop," like an actual desk top surface to work on. Files had icons that looked like papers, folders looked like the tan file folders you'd store in a filing cabinet. Plus a slew of other office-related parallels.
The briefcase was just a continuation of that digital theme. Office workers would bring their work files home in a briefcase to work on later, then bring back to the office the next day. Microsoft tried to digitally replicate that by creating a briefcase folder that would automatically sync your files to a floppy disk, so you didn't have to do it yourself. The Internet kinda ruined that concept, though. Now you can just email yourself files, text them to yourself on your phone, or store them in a cloud service to edit live on the site.