If I remember correctly, it was a regular folder with a special icon. The intention was that you could drag&drop it to some removable media to move between computers.
I guess MS envisioned it as a digital replacement for the physical suitcase of documents you’d bring to/from work.
Furthermore, this “digital replacement” strategy can be seen in other (now mostly defunct) MS programs such as that program that was bundled with windows 3.11 ( I think it was called wincard.exe) that mimiced a rolodex.
I’ll take my MCSE now, thank you.
EDIT: Seems there was some sync stuff with it as well. I’ll settle for some junior certification, thank you.
It was more than just a special icon for a folder, it had special behaviour too. Without looking it up (in the spirit of the meme), I seem to remember that it would automatically sync the files any time that you insert the floppy disk, kind of like having Dropbox but without the internet. The idea being that you would have files on your computer that you could take with you somewhere else (in your briefcase, on a floppy disk) and all instances of that briefcase would automatically sync the latest updates of the files without you having to manually copy them and work out which was the latest version of a file.
I think it was very slightly more than a regular folder in that there was a sync wizard IIRC.
I think you set it up with a piece of removable media and then you could press the sync button when it was present to take the newest file from either the removable media or the local disk. I also vaguely remember a conflict resolution screen where if both copies had changed you could keep one, the other or both. I’m trying to remember if you could have a 3-point sync where you used the removable media as a way of keeping the briefcase on your home and work computers in sync, but I never used that feature if it did exist.
So yeah, It didn’t do much more than just dragging and dropping (as I think the OS dialog had similar conflict resolution at least from windows 98ish) but the two way aspect was pretty useful.
I guess MS envisioned it as a digital replacement for the physical suitcase of documents you’d bring to/from work.
The whole computer was originally visualized as a digital office replacement. That’s why you have the “desktop,” like an actual desk top surface to work on. Files had icons that looked like papers, folders looked like the tan file folders you’d store in a filing cabinet. Plus a slew of other office-related parallels.
The briefcase was just a continuation of that digital theme. Office workers would bring their work files home in a briefcase to work on later, then bring back to the office the next day. Microsoft tried to digitally replicate that by creating a briefcase folder that would automatically sync your files to a floppy disk, so you didn’t have to do it yourself. The Internet kinda ruined that concept, though. Now you can just email yourself files, text them to yourself on your phone, or store them in a cloud service to edit live on the site.
If I remember correctly, it was a regular folder with a special icon. The intention was that you could drag&drop it to some removable media to move between computers.
I guess MS envisioned it as a digital replacement for the physical suitcase of documents you’d bring to/from work.
Furthermore, this “digital replacement” strategy can be seen in other (now mostly defunct) MS programs such as that program that was bundled with windows 3.11 ( I think it was called wincard.exe) that mimiced a rolodex.
I’ll take my MCSE now, thank you.
EDIT: Seems there was some sync stuff with it as well. I’ll settle for some junior certification, thank you.
It was more than just a special icon for a folder, it had special behaviour too. Without looking it up (in the spirit of the meme), I seem to remember that it would automatically sync the files any time that you insert the floppy disk, kind of like having Dropbox but without the internet. The idea being that you would have files on your computer that you could take with you somewhere else (in your briefcase, on a floppy disk) and all instances of that briefcase would automatically sync the latest updates of the files without you having to manually copy them and work out which was the latest version of a file.
How much you bet that the code is still somewhere in explorer.exe?
Wait, isn’t this similiar to the homesyncd thing?
I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that OneDrive has some of that code
I think it was very slightly more than a regular folder in that there was a sync wizard IIRC.
I think you set it up with a piece of removable media and then you could press the sync button when it was present to take the newest file from either the removable media or the local disk. I also vaguely remember a conflict resolution screen where if both copies had changed you could keep one, the other or both. I’m trying to remember if you could have a 3-point sync where you used the removable media as a way of keeping the briefcase on your home and work computers in sync, but I never used that feature if it did exist.
So yeah, It didn’t do much more than just dragging and dropping (as I think the OS dialog had similar conflict resolution at least from windows 98ish) but the two way aspect was pretty useful.
The “digital replacement” nonsense is also why we now have “folders” instead of “directories”. This thing gave me so many awkward flashbacks.
The whole computer was originally visualized as a digital office replacement. That’s why you have the “desktop,” like an actual desk top surface to work on. Files had icons that looked like papers, folders looked like the tan file folders you’d store in a filing cabinet. Plus a slew of other office-related parallels.
The briefcase was just a continuation of that digital theme. Office workers would bring their work files home in a briefcase to work on later, then bring back to the office the next day. Microsoft tried to digitally replicate that by creating a briefcase folder that would automatically sync your files to a floppy disk, so you didn’t have to do it yourself. The Internet kinda ruined that concept, though. Now you can just email yourself files, text them to yourself on your phone, or store them in a cloud service to edit live on the site.