Why are email folders so different from file folders?
Cut Copy Paste:
You can cut copy and paste email folders and file folders but you can't move one to the other.
Search:
You can search email and you can search folders and files but unless you have a desktop search engine installed you can't search both.
Share:
You can share folders between computers but unless you have some special email client and server you can't share emails or folders of emails without actually forwarding the messages.
Control:
Every program can easily interface with the filesystem and enumerate folders, and items but if you want to control, export, or interface with email you need to know the specifics of the email client.
Attach a file to an email or save an email to the desktop and the concepts begin to merge. Both a file and an email are at their core very similar. Each one contains an idea, a thought or concept. Each one is created saved and retrieved for later viewing. What if all your files existed in your inbox? What if all your emails lived in the filesystem? Today the separation of these two worlds is artificial.
The Unified Store
Bill Gates has wanted a unified store for the last 10 years. A single architecture that can hold both emails and files. A single database file-system that can bring these two worlds together. This is a huge opportunity for anyone in the operating system business.
Advantages:
A more powerful file system as well as a more powerful email application. The advantage of combining the two is that you get the best of both worlds. Rich meta-data on files, sharing and searching on emails, unified backup, unified sharing, unified security, unified interactions.
Public information seems to indicate that Windows Vista is not going to include a unified store and that Outlook 12 will not undergo a radical face-lift. Looks like the door stays open for another five years. The question is will Microsoft, Apple, Google, or Linux get there first?