Classic Shell
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Windows 10 navigation pane node height: 16, 17, 19, 21, 24px
http://classicshell.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6503		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  DaiPlusPlus [ Sun Aug 07, 2016 7:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Windows 10 navigation pane node height: 16, 17, 19, 21, 24px
The folder-list sidebar in Windows Explorer (now the Navigation Pane in File Explorer) has historically had many tree-node items packed in by using a small row-height value.

By comparing screenshots over time, I've observed the following heights for different OS releases (at 96dpi with default theme / font-size settings):

  • Windows 95, Windows 98 - 16px
  • Windows 2000, Windows XP - 17px
  • Windows Vista - 19px
  • Windows 7, Windows 8 - 21px
  • Windows 10 - 24px
That's an increase in 8px - 50% - from the first Windows Explorer to the present-day, which represents a one-third drop in information-density. If you have 1152 pixels of vertical screen-space, then if you were running Windows 95 you could see 72 folders at a time, but on Windows 10 that drops to 48 folders.


I appreciate that in the days of Windows 95 typical screen-space was 640x480, maybe 800x600 if you were lucky and that dense cramped text can be hard to read - so I feel the 19px height in Windows Vista was a nice compromise - I eventually got used to the 21px height in Windows 7 and Windows 8, but the 24px height in Windows 10 is excessive - obviously a move towards being touch-friendly, but as I'm a mouse-only user it doesn't benefit me at all, and the 9% reduction in information-density from Windows 7 to Windows 10 just means I have to do more scrolling.

Can the Classic Shell team modify the Navigation Pane so that it has a smaller node row-height, at least 21px but preferably customizable so I can set 19px or even 16px if it takes my fancy.

Thanks!

I've attached a comparison of screenshots.

Attachments:
Navigation Pane over time.png
Navigation Pane over time.png [ 191.55 KiB | Viewed 13702 times ]
Author:  Ivo [ Sun Aug 07, 2016 7:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Windows 10 navigation pane node height: 16, 17, 19, 21,
Use the "Tree item spacing" setting in the Navigation Pane tab.
Keep in mind that in Windows 10 the spacing setting is multiplied by 3. So -1 means "reduce by 3 pixels".
Author:  DaiPlusPlus [ Tue Aug 09, 2016 11:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Windows 10 navigation pane node height: 16, 17, 19, 21,  Topic is solved
Ivo wrote:
Use the "Tree item spacing" setting in the Navigation Pane tab.
Keep in mind that in Windows 10 the spacing setting is multiplied by 3. So -1 means "reduce by 3 pixels".



Gah, thanks! I'm embarrassed that I missed that option.
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