Windows 95 Menu Styles:
Windows Explorer vs. My Computer

Introduction

Even as recent as 10 years ago personal computers relied on text-based operating systems.  In the mid to late 1980's, the personal computer of choice was an IBM clone with a 286 processor running Microsoft's DOS operating system.  Users were forced to memorize command lines to execute simple instructions.  Not only did users have to keep track of the commands, but they also had to remember the positioning of the command's parameters.  Even the most popular word processor at the time, Word Perfect 5.1, was heavily dependent on combinations of function keys and the shift, control and alt keys for functions such as changing fonts or printing.  The mouse was rarely used, if at all.  Even organization of files was a problem, as MS-DOS ordered files and directories roughly by their time of creation, so a quick scan to find the needed file proved difficult (To further complicate things, if anything was deleted, new files would take up those spaces before being added to the bottom).  The advent of a windows-based operating system revolutionized the way the average person used computers.  Suddenly, command lines that may have required a few dozen keystrokes could be executed with a couple of mouse clicks.  Items were now ordered alphabetically.  Many who were previously intimidated by the complexity of the operating systems now found them relatively easy to manipulate.

Microsoft Windows 95 is the most widely used operating system in the world today.  The proliferation of this and other graphics-based systems will inevitably create more of a demand for efficient methods of navigating through such systems.  Being able to traverse the directory tree containing a computer's stored data is the most basic function required of an operating system.  For most users, such a traversal method is the most actively used part of an operating system.  Coupled with the sheer magnitude of Windows 95 usage in the world today, such built-in navigation methods form the foundation from which all such menus will build on.  Therefore, we must determine which menus are favorable and efficient, as future evolutions of such menus will be largely based on what users are comfortable with today.

Ever since Windows 3.1, the first widely used operating system for PC's that was graphically based, there has been a File Manager.  The original File Manager has now evolved to Windows 95's Windows Explorer.  The program appears in a singular window divided into two frames.  The left frame is of less width than the right one, and contains an overview of everything on the computer.  Clicking on a drive or a folder in the left expands the tree one level but only within that drive or folder.  The left side never displays files, only folders.  Meanwhile, the frame on the right displays all the contents of the drive or folder that is highlighted in the left frame, including files and subdirectories.

The other primary method of exploring the contents of the hard drive is through the My Computer icon located on the desktop.  There are two settings for My Computer.  In the first method, a new window is opened each time a directory is selected.  This patterns itself on Windows 3.1's "cascading windows" feature.  Although this allows more than one window to be opened at once, it quickly overcrowds the screen space and determining which window spawned which is difficult.  Therefore, it is also possible to change views in a single window. With this method, once a folder is selected, only its contents are visible, replacing its parent's in the window.

As a backup, Windows 95 still provides a DOS prompt for users who wish to use command lines.  However, only the three graphics-based methods were tested in this experiment.
 

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