Editing Spatial file manager (section)

==Advantages and disadvantages==
===Advantages===
A spatial file manager is closer to the way the people interact with the physical objects around them, such as desks, chairs and tables.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}} Since spatial properties are reliable indicators of "location" in a spatial file manager, the user may build up a familiar work environment by arranging commonly used windows, secure in the knowledge that this state will be preserved and will always map to the expected locations. This familiarity can lead to increased comfort and efficiency.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}}

Furthermore, identification based on spatial attributes is a very natural human ability, requiring little or no conscious thought.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}} The ability to recognize and recall locations within the hierarchy based on the appearance and position of folder windows is the primary purpose of the spatial file manager. All of the "rules" and behaviors that define the spatial file manager are designed to ensure that the strengths of the visual/spatial recognition and recall abilities of the human brain are leveraged.{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}} The idea is that these abilities are more natural and require "less work" than other forms of recognition based on reading text,{{Citation needed|date=July 2012}} maintaining an awareness of "current working directory" (in a command-line environment, for example), relying on the memory of past actions, or any other non-spatial cues.

One more advantage is that it allows the user to keep things arranged a certain way from one session to the next, as with the "workspace" settings in many high-end software packages. For instance, the windows showing the contents of different folders for a complex project could be tiled onscreen in such a fashion that all of them could be seen at the same time. In a browser-style file manager, one would be forced to rearrange these same windows every time they were reopened.

===Disadvantages===
The spatial metaphor can seem awkward to those accustomed to browser-style file managers. One complaint{{by whom|date=July 2012}} is that spatial managers use too many windows, leading to clutter. In a Windows 95 usability study by Microsoft,{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} users of varying experience were said to be "confused" by the many windows:
{{quote|Users of every type were confused by the Programs folder. We thought that having a folder on the desktop with other folders and links to programs inside it would be a natural transition for Windows 3.1 users accustomed to Program Manager, while being relatively easy to learn for beginners. We were wrong! Beginners quickly got lost in all of the folders (unlike File Cabinet, each folder opened into a different window) and other users had a lot of trouble deciding whether they were looking at the actual file system and its files or just links to actual files.}}

Proponents{{Who|date=July 2012}} claim that this confusion is partially a result of the non-spatial nature of the Windows 95 file manager. When the connection between the spatial state of a window is not unambiguously and irrevocably connected with a particular folder, it becomes impossible reliably to recognize a particular folder based on its spatial qualities.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} Spatial state often becomes misleading in a non-spatial file manager.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}} Users may incorrectly identify a window based on visual cues that do not actually link it to any particular folder, but are instead properties of the browser-style window itself. In such an environment, each new window adds clutter without recognizable meaning. This leads to the often-cited{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} preference for a single window through which any folder may be viewed: a browser. The proliferation and familiarity of web browsers has strengthened this preference.{{citation needed|date=July 2012}}

Also, maintaining spatial familiarity can be difficult when the file system is accessed from a variety of applications and devices with differing display capabilities. Reproducing a single spatial arrangement on many different display devices is sometimes impractical. Per-device, per-user, or per-display spatial state is one possible solution, at the cost of an increased amount of state information that must be stored.