That includes the possibilities of ditching folder structures in exchange for dynamic searches, although I tend to find that both have their places - my work stuff is all neatly organised by project, while I'd like things like photos to be searchable.

The possibility of decoupling file storage from the core of a UI, so that different people can use different file storage managers, is also interesting - and would be easier to do without app-based file open/save dialog boxes; a document found in a folder-filesystem viewer, or in a search window, or in a versioned project browser, is still a document that (using a common activation API) can be double-clicked or dragged into an application to open up; and all of those viewers and search windows could be places that documents could be dragged TO to save them.

However: I am not so sure that the filesystem is the place to have users navigating. They have to create folders before creating documents, can't remember which folder they saved a document to, can accidentally delete documents, have to manually version documents as they modify them/receive modified versions from others.

These issues are largely navigational and could be solved by the OS vendors, but they can't be bothered. (A global file-search does not suffice!) And for collaborative situations, having an app like Groove or Sharepoint manage documents is essential; they provide project-oriented document browsing, versioning and security without the user needing to fiddle with folders and saved searches and permissions and the like.

So until filesystem browsers get a LOT better, I'll stick with app-centric computing

I've found that you can drag the little icon from the title bar of a Finder window into a Save As browser to make it show that directory, but it's fiddly to get everything side by side to manage it.

The OSX finder sucks, though - lots of people seem to be saying this. It's odd and inconsistent and they really need to rewrite it.

I read an interesting review somewhere that said it appeared to be confused between two models:

1. The spatial model, where double clicking a folder should open a new window showing the contents of that folder; a 1:1 correspondance between windows and folders, UI objects and domain-model objects.
2. The browser model, where a window is heavyweight thing with all the links down the side, and double clicking should change what that window displays. The window is an interface to a world of files and folders.

You can flip any one window between the two display modes in the Finder, but it's a bit arbitrary what new windows open like.

Here's the full moan:

Ars Technica article on the Finder

I'm all for giving people choice between UI styles rather than enforcing a monoculture, but the finder just confuses the two...

This is one potential approach.