Aero Taskforce

.Chris wrote on August 14, 2008, 9:39pm

Whats the point of zip files anyway?

WhereisKevinn wrote on August 15, 2008, 6:19am

Zip files compress to save diskspace, and they can also be used for security.

hereafter wrote on August 15, 2008, 7:27am

what if there is a password protection. what if it is corrupted.

antiufo wrote on August 15, 2008, 9:33am

@WhereisKevinn
usually zip files in Internet are not used at all to save space, but to allow the user to download a folder tree, with more files inside. The extracted files would be marked as "downloaded from the Internet", like it happens now if you download an exe file and you launch it, and you will be warned before to open them.

@hereafter
password -> Dialog box to enter the password
file corrupted -> error message
in both cases the zip file wouldn't be deleted.

bearluke wrote on August 15, 2008, 9:38am

-1
windows already has the built-in support for compressed folders, so you don't need to extract anything.

antiufo wrote on August 15, 2008, 9:44am

@bearluke
they have very limited functionalities:
•you can't see a preview of image files
•you can't open files with other programs (right click menu)
•some times you have to extract the whole archive if you want to use an exe file

mrbean wrote on August 15, 2008, 9:50am

it would be great

wasker wrote on August 15, 2008, 10:35pm

What if there're hundreds of files withing the ZIP and they're all on the very first level (no folders)? One click and you just polluted your desktop with tons of junk. Voted down.

aakash wrote on August 17, 2008, 1:39pm

@wasker: But shouldn't the user at least have the option for this? The user may be a power user who would prefer this. Also, most ZIP files that are extracted in Vista are placed in a unique folder (as far as I recall). So, this would only potentially litter a sub folder of the desktop. In addition, the Desktop is no longer the default downloads folder, so this approach wouldn't by default little the Desktop anyways unless the default was changed. Also, this is the default approach in Mac OS, so this is already a proven feature.

wasker wrote on August 17, 2008, 10:27pm

Too many technically challenged users are using Windows. This option will mean a disaster for tech support.

jamesrising wrote on August 21, 2008, 6:12am

@ bearluke:

Really. We're all tired of you. We've tried being nice. Be quiet and stop saying stupid things or go away.

elmarj wrote on September 8, 2008, 11:42am

Sounds like a great feature. Just extract the zip-file to a new folder with the name of the original zip-file (without the .zip extension), so it feels as if I downloaded and saved a complete folder tree. In general there's no need to save downloaded files as zips (file size is not a matter of concern) and (as antiufo already pointed out): the zip-folder view is pretty limeted compared to a real folder view.