Dustin Mihalik's Blog

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Longhorn feature of the night

I've found quite a few new features in Longhorn that I did not see at the PDC that are not really development related, but are still worth mentioning. I figured I'd post a few as I came across them. This one is the solution to the problem of applications trying to take over as the default file handler for a file type.

It seems that Longhorn will ask when a program changes the default type and allows you to select if you wish to use the new program or continue using the current program. The fact that any application can choose to be the default handler for a file type was a major frustration in previous versions. Here's a screenshot of the dialog I got when Firebird tried to handle jpg images.
Posted: Nov 10 2003, 10:55 PM by mihalik | with 7 comment(s)
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Comments

G. Andrew Duthie said:

Sweet! No more hijacked file types. I love it!
# November 11, 2003 12:14 AM

Stephane Rodriguez said:


App spawning depends on the context. "Open" from the cmdline or windows explorer, is different than "Open" from the web, and is different from "Open" in integrated development tools. In each of those cases, different registry keys are involved.
So I wonder how this is going to solve the issue.
# November 11, 2003 3:40 AM

Sebastien Lambla said:

Very nifty.
# November 11, 2003 9:06 AM

Doogers said:

With such a smart file system like WinFS why can't an attribute be stored that associates the application to a file, on a per-file basis, for the purpose of overriding the default when desired.

The problem here is really that the use of the file extension to determine the launch app is overloaded. Why not have one file with an .html extension launch IE while another .html file launchs with Mozilla. By storing the launch app as an attribute with the file this behaviour would be possible. Of course a default launch app can still be applied when no launch app attribute is stored with a file.
# November 11, 2003 10:08 AM

jhort said:

That sounds nice since I am fighting that right now.

My question is how well does it handle when you install something that tries to take over lots of file extensions? For example Paint Shop Pro or Winamp.
# November 11, 2003 2:05 PM

Dustin Mihalik said:

Actually, it does it when you try to click on the file type. I think it keeps track of what you used to be the default handler. So when you click on an MP3, it basicly asks "You used to use windows media player to listen to this, now winamp is available. Which would you like to use?"
# November 11, 2003 4:12 PM

Doogers said:

There is a difference between tracking the launch app by file extention and by file instance. What you describe is only by file extension because all files with a particular file extenstion will behave the same and lead to the same prompts.

The Mac haa long had this feature by storing file type and creator with each file. The creator determines the launch app. With WinFS, Longhorn could do this too, only better.
# November 19, 2003 3:45 PM
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