Submission details
Improved Preview Pane
In windows vista, far too many formats aren't displayed in the preview pane, and the overall presentation is drab.
This is a place where Explorer and Win7 can shine.
(I don't have the beta, so if some of this has been changed/fixed, kudos.)
1. MOST IMPORTANT. More preview handlers out of the box. MS needs to step up and do this, because with Vista it's clear that the partners aren't going to. My suggestion, focus on doc types that benefit most from the preview pane, i.e. graphics and media files. So, PSD files, Illustrator files, InDesign docs, RAW formats, video files, etc.
2. Have it load previews for the whole current folder by default. (see Apple's coverflow preview window in 10.5 finder) No sense in having a preview pane if it's sitting empty. Sure, it's eye candy, but it makes the OS feel so much nicer to use.
3. Give it some visual love. You don't have to do the OSX reflections over black, but what about some slick drop shadows to imply it standing vertically in 3D space? Just some effort would be nice. (the simple drop in Vista is ok, but a little more love would be nice.
In Win7, at least there's a convenient button to turn it on, thank God. But, these things need to be done as well.
Medium
High
Not fixed
.Chris wrote on December 14, 2008, 9:36pm
Also, have the preview pane work like the e-mail clients preview pane. Eirther on the right hand side or on the bottom. Larger, wider, previews are great for photos and may be even documents.