Wayfarer 2.2

infobox Software
name=Wayfarer |
| caption=
developer=Iain Clifford Heath (no longer developed)| latest_release_version=2.2 | latest_release_date= 14 April 1995| operating_system=Windows 3.1 | genre=Operating System Shell | license=Freeware | website= [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Platform/8269/#wayfarer last known reference] / [http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Platform/8269/wayfarer.zip last known source]

Wayfarer is an alternate shell for Windows 3.1x, using subdivided and nested panels.

Philosophy

Wayfarer was created to overcome the limitations of the two main components of the Windows 3.1 shell: Program Manager and File Manager. Program Manager allowed users to create groups of shortcuts to their favorite programs and files, but these groups were static and their appearance and arrangement was very limited. In contrast, File Manager provided a 'live' view of files, but because it also offered drag/drop file operations (such as move, copy, delete), accessing frequently-used files through this tool was risky for users. File Manager also suffered from a total lack of user control over appearance and arrangement of files; there was no way to present a filtered or targeted view of a specific area of the file system.

Wayfarer was focused on helping users build much richer launch pads for their programs and files. From a single desktop icon, the user was able to navigate through a hierarchy of popup folders (of their own design) containing shortcuts. Wayfarer's UI pre-empted several features that would later appear in Windows 95. When the first Beta versions of Windows 95 became available, the "yardstick" feature was added to version 2.2 of Wayfarer as a direct response to the Task Bar in Windows 95.

One of Wayfarer's key innovations were Browser panels, which could be used to present live views of individual directories in the user's file system, but with launch-only capabilities (no ability to accidentally move/copy/delete) and rich presentation and layout capabilities. For example, it was possible for the user to define the appearance of file shortcuts on a per file type (ie. file extension) basis - something that was not fully realized in the operating system itself until Windows 95.

Features

The main focus of this shell is the 3d-edged subdivided panels, which can contain program icons, links to other panels, tabbed groups, customizable file browsers or any mix of them in subdivisions.

Folders are popup windows containing shortcuts to programs, files, or other folders. The user can create an hierarchy of folders, accessible via the Wayfarer desktop icon. Each folder can be give a specific size and position on the desktop. Folders normally auto-hide after a shortcut is launched, but they can also be individually 'pinned' to the desktop.

The surface of a folder can be subdivided into regions called panels. Any panel can be endlessly divided and subdivided into sub-panels. General panels hold static user-defined shortcuts. Browser panels display a live view of the file system. Tab panels display a set of 'tabs' that allow access to a stack of further sub-panels.

Browser panels include options for selective file ordering, colouring, type viewing and assigning icons by file type, so a file browser could be set up to show one or more types of files or to sort them in a variety of ways. It is not a complete file manager, as it is not possible to do anything other than open or run the selected file.

Wayfarer offers users rich control over the appearance of each shortcut they create, including icon, font, layout and effects. Icons can be imported / extracted from other programs, or the user can select from 2 banks of predefined icons (one large set, and one small set). Arrangement of shortcuts within a given panel can either be manual or automatic.

A "yardstick" that is similar in concept to the task bar. The Yardstick has dedicated buttons for maximise all, minimise all and tile all windows, but it cannot read the icons of running applications. The user may choose an icon for each program from a bank of pre-supplied images. The Yardstick can only occupy one row, but names of programs can be altered, such as to abbreviate them to save space. These settings are permanently memorised.

Notes

Wayfarer was featured on the cover disk of a 1994 edition of Windows User magazine (published in the United Kindgom).

Wayfarer was published as freeware and was first made available for download via Compuserve around 1993, before eventually becoming more widely available on the Internet. Its initial install base was estimated at around 2000 users.

It does appear to run, at least partially, under Windows XP, though it initially failed to appear - further experiments are required to see if it is actually usable.