X vs XP

Opening & Saving Files

Overview
The primary way of opening and saving files on both Mac OS X and Windows XP is through dialog boxes. Both operating systems allow you to type the first letters of a file or folder in an open/save dialog box to jump to the nearest match. In save dialogs for both operating systems, you can click on a file listed and the filename text box will be auto-populated with the name of the file you clicked on. Both operating systems allow you to create folders from within open/save dialogs. Both have keyboard shortcuts to call up an open dialog, as well as quickly save an open document with a dialog ("save as") or without ("save").

Mac OS X

Open and Save dialogs respond to OS X's keyboard shortcuts for accessing common places:

Shift--D, Desktop (-D also works)
Shift--H, Home
Shift--C, Computer
Shift--U, Utilities
Shift--A, Applications
Shift--I, iDisk
Shift--K, Network
as well as a few navigation shortcuts:

Shift--up arrow, Enclosing Folder
Shift--[, Back
Shift--], Forward

OS X's Open Dialog

OS X's Open and Save dialogs allow you to browse your files in List view or Column view. Similar to Finder windows (or a web browser), Open/Save dialogs have back and forward buttons. Favorite places are listed in the left column for quick access (these will be identical to your Finder sidebar), and recent places are available within the pull-down menu above the files listing. Open/Save dialogs conveniently sport search boxes so you can quickly find a file or folder.

Open/Save dialogs display the entire contents of folders, greying out items that the opening application doesn't recognize (in this example, Photoshop). Note the recessed panel at the bottom of the window with the Format options - that section was custom-added for Photoshop, and demonstrates how Open/Save dialogs can be customized by applications for tasks pertinent to that application.

Column view permits previewing of items prior to opening. A "More info..." button in the preview pane lets you view more metadata about the file.



By default, OS X's Save dialogs are minimalist, asking only for a filename and location (and any other options that the application specifies - Format, in this case, for Safari):



The Where popup menu lists your desktop, computer root and hard drive, all the locations in your Finder sidebar, and recent places:



If the Where menu is not sufficient, click the downward arrow button to expand the Save dialog. From here, just like with the Open dialog, you can browse your entire system in either List or Column view:



Subsequent Save dialogs will remember your previous setting (minimal or expanded) and will default to that the next time you call them up.

You can select whether to show or hide the extension of the file you're saving. You can also create new folders in Open/Save Dialogs. In addition, both support drag and drop - drop a file or folder into an Open/Save dialog to instantly navigate to that location.

Windows XP

Open and Save dialogs in XP behave like standard file browser windows - you can create new folders, as well as rename or delete files or folders. You can also browse your computer in five views: Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, and Details (every view other than Filmstrip, which would arguably take up too much space for such dialogs).


Viewing files in Thumbnail View in an Open dialog

XP hides files that don't match the selection in the "Files of type" menu, letting you filter down the files shown to those that can be opened by the application. If you wish to see other files (perhaps for deleting or renaming purposes), you can choose "All" from the menu (or type *.* in the "File name" box to indicate any file with any extension).


The contents of the My Documents folder, showing only .txt files

The left pane of Open and Save dialogs provides access to recent documents, the desktop, My Documents, and My Computer (the "My Recent Documents" button can actually provide access to recent folders as well, though this isn't immediately obvious). Unfortunately, this list cannot be customized within Windows, though users can download Microsoft's free TweakUI tool to accomplish this. Strangely, even though you can shrink open/save dialogs down in size, the icons in the left pane are fixed at one size and thus can get "cut off" if the dialog is too small.

The shortcuts in the left pane do not seem to be system-wide - Microsoft's flagship Word has different icons as well as an additional location:


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Conclusion
Mac OS X

View open/save dialogs as minimal or expanded
"Where" popup menu provides one-click access to all essential/important locations
Full support for keyboard shortcuts in Open/Save dialogs
Drag folders or files onto Open/Save dialogs to instantly navigate to that item's location
Left pane is identical to the Finder's (customizable) sidebar
Built-in search
No Icon or Group view available
Items incapable of being opened by the application are "greyed out" but can't be fully hidden
Inability to rename or delete items
Lack of Icon view leaves Column view as the only option to preview files before opening/saving; therefore, no ability to preview multiple files at the same time
Windows XP
View open/save dialogs in any view other than Filmstrip
Rename and delete files in Open/Save dialogs
Hide documents that the current application cannot open
Left pane provides quick access to common places
Customizing the left pane requires a separate download; it is also not system-wide and suffers from a usability flaw
Both operating systems have plenty of good features, as well as a few drawbacks. Apple seems to believe that opening/saving should be a different "mode" from working within the filesystem, while Microsoft's approach is to treat open/save dialogs as if they were miniature file browsers, giving them all the features of Windows Explorer.

What OS X's open/save dialogs lack in not duplicating full Finder functionality, they make up for with considerably useful extra features: two dialog modes (minimal or expanded), superior shortcuts (the Where menu plus a customizable left pane), keyboard shortcut support, drag and drop to jump to a location, and a built-in search field. XP lacks all of these features, though its approach of giving open/save dialogs full Explorer functionality gives it some additional abilities that OS X lacks: view dialogs in any view (other than Filmstrip), rename and delete files, and preview multiple files at once (thanks to Thumbnails view).

Mac OS X: 8
Windows XP: 7

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