Microsoft Making File Copying Better in Windows 8

One of the great things about GUI operating systems is dealing with file management. While some of us from the old days became pretty good at shuffling files around via the command line, seeing graphical representations of files and dragging and dropping them made things much faster and easier.

Microsoft has changes planned for the way Windows 8 handles the copying and moving of files. Microsoft cites add-ons TeraCopy, FastCopy, and Copy Handler as software it has looked at for file copying. The company found that less than 0.45 percent of Windows 7 PCs are running such software, but still sees it as

"We aren’t aiming to match the feature sets of these add-ons. We expect that there will be a vibrant market for third-party add-ons for a long time," wrote Alex Simons, Microsoft's director of program management, in the Windows 8 Blog. "Our focus is on improving the experience of the person who is doing high-volume copying with Explorer today, who would like more control, more insight into what’s going on while copying, and a cleaner, more streamlined experience."

Ever get stuck copying more than one file, or a set of files, thus collectively dividing up the available transfer speed available? That's no problem if you're not in a hurry to have a certain job finish before the other ones, but for when it's a problem, you'll be thankful that Microsoft has added a pause feature.

Windows 8 will also have an expanded file action window, where you can see a graph of the transfer and other details.

Microsoft is also revamping its file conflict function, which will show up to aid a user when he or she is copying or moving files to a destination with already-existing filenames.

 

Check out the video above for a visual demo.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • DjEaZy
    ... just copying from linux...
    Reply
  • ginnai
    It is a fairly minor element, but I do like what I see. Hopefully this is how hard they are working on the entire OS.
    Reply
  • bison88
    Looks pretty cool. Can't wait to play with the Beta to see how it stacks up. I think many of us are just happy to see that Tablet Metro UI gig isn't some permanent interface.
    Reply
  • andy5174
    Good idea! Now I can manage all of them in a single dialogue window.
    Reply
  • robertito
    I've always said it's the little things that matter most. At it's core any windows version will get the job done, its improvements in workflow and efficiency that, to most users, makes the biggest difference.
    Reply
  • soccerdocks
    The one thing that I want to make sure they add is that it will keep copying other files in the background when it detects duplicate file names.
    Reply
  • Wish I Was Wealthy
    Well this idea seems okay so far,let's hope that when the operating system comes out it will be okay.
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    There needs to be an installation option that says:

    "Get rid of the Windows 8 frills and make this look like Windows 98, Windows XP or Windows 7. I only bought Windows 8 so I wouldn't run into compatibility issues for new applications."
    Reply
  • shak2300
    it look good, but i got 1 question why did it take them this long to make something as simple and merging the 2 copy windows together, you guys are sure slacking over there
    Reply
  • applegetsmelaid
    Someone at Microsoft has been using bittorrent clients ;)
    Reply