Windows 7 - Libraries showstopper - Not Shareable with non W7

Hi all

why does Microsoft start of with something REALLY GOOD but fails to finish it off properly which they could easily do by simply asking any "normal" user after the product has come out of the development labs for example the generally EXCELLENT Windows Media Center (not the WMP BTW) lacks a feature to play COMPOSITE video / audeo unless you have a remote controller etc etc.

The Libraries feature -- excellent once you get used to it - similar (in conception) to Linux / OS-X where you just "mount" a directory say /mymusic and have your files / sub folders under this -- doesn't matter on which physical volume(s) the data exists.

Now this works fine on Windows 7 but here's the achilles heel of this.

Say you've got your data spanned across 2, 3 or more volumes.
Now you want to access the data from a Windows XP or other system -- No go.

Windows XP only recognises shared volumes and directories -- no shared Libraries so you still have to hunt for your data in "the old way". - Now of course if you've spread the stuff over many disks and you are on the XP system finding your data now becomes a nightware -- (which is why I'm still messing around with MySQL as any DATABASE system will find your data with a simple query).

I cannot believe with the number of "Non Windows 7" sysytems that will still be around for a few years even after the release of Windows 7 that Microsoft didn't try and implement a SHARED library function. Surely the remote system (Windows 7) could have initiated a script that would pass the relevant data back to the local system (Windows XP).

Now I haven't tried every possible option so there just *might* be a method of sharing libraries but I haven't found it yet.

So guys if anybody can find a solution to this I'll (and I'm sure countless others) will be very greatful.

Just to repeat to avoid misunderstanding here. The Post refers to sharing the new LIBRARIES (for example if you create a new Library). Not Folders such as My Music, My Documents etc which are just "Classical Folders or Directories".

The Library facility is really great once you get used to it -- but without facilities for being able to share it across a network it's going to be really hobbled. This feature could be really useful in managing Corporate Network drives as well as the users would simply be authorised to access a Library. The I.T support could manage the disk drives seamlessly avoiding such outages "Please log off everybody to shared drive "P" as we need to re-organize / increase space / etc etc.


(meanwhile I'm pressing on with my MySQL music database as this WILL be genuinely shareable across a network).


Cheers

Jimbo

I very much doubt that M/S will go to the trouble of re-writing for a system which is,after all being phased out.

While XP may be a viable system, you can't really expect any more than perfunctory support.

But what about VISTA
-- this isn't being put to bed for a while yet.

Or even Windows 7 itself -- you can't even share the libraries across a Windows 7 network.

I've tried it with a "Network" of a Laptop and a Desktop (small network but it's 2 computers on a LAN both wired) and it doesn't work.

The only way you can "Half get it to work" is to define another library on your LOCAL computer and add the contents of the remote library to the local one. This is a mega pain as well as you first have to ensure all the remote individual folders are "shareable" individually in the old classic way.

This method will be strewn with errors as any changes to the remote library such as new folders or disk changes (moving stuff from disk A to disk B) won't be reflected on the Local machine.

Also since Microsoft is targeting corporations as well this would make for much easier DATA transition. Companies will upgrade in stages. By making it simpler to share corporate data the whole upgrading process becomes far simpler (both from a hardware and software point of view).

Cheers
jimbo

How exactly do you think something like this would be able to be implemented?

I'm not a programmer so I'm not exactly sure of the technical details but don't most DATABASE systems work something like this -- I can access data say from a table within a shared database from any computer that the database can access.

The library would need to keep some sort of "internal table space" or catalog so that the LOCAL system would just see in the browser / windows explorer an index of the data files. On say a double click of the relevant index / catalog entry the LOCAL system would gain access to the actual data on the REMOTE system.

Hell's Bells -- you could even technically do something like this with a Shared EXCEL spreadsheet. The spreadsheet would contain a file link or URL to the data and double clicking on the URL would set windows explorer / IE8 to the correct file. OK this is not as sophisticated as Libraries but the point I'm trying to make here is that since the Library MUST HAVE an internal table space / catalog it shouldn't be all that difficult for Microsoft to allow "Shared Libraries".

Now if I (as a mere mortal) can come up with this in 5 Mins after just coming back from a "Sunday Lunchtime session" at a local hostelry it shouldn't be too impossible for the Professional IT Gurus at Microsoft to devise a much much better system.

Cheers
jimbo

Hi Jimbo,

I think that Microsoft will provide a number of updates for vista systems when Windows 7 enters the mainstream. These will integrate the likes of homegroup and libraries.

I personally believe it is a little early in the development cycle to see integration between Vista and Windows 7.

As for XP I personally doubt very much that with the imminent downgrading of the OS to a security updates only status will lead us to see any integration with Windows 7 's new features, although this has been done recently with things such as search 4.0 so it is possible