[runamuck83]

Wouldn't it be nice if Win10 for phones had native capability to browse network file shares? That alone would sell the phone to a lot of companies.

For all its advantages, a lot of companies still are not using Sharepoint and rely on good ol' fashion network shares.

[hotphil]

I can't think of a use-case where that would be beneficial...

[jhoff80]

I kind of doubt it will. Windows 10 for phone will still be an iteration of Windows Phone 8.1, so I don't see all of the network options and that sort of stuff being available.

​Try ShareFolder Explorer though.

[PepperdotNet]

I can't think of a use-case where that would be beneficial...

Well don't use it then. Those of us that have Office documents stored on the local network would like to work with those documents without having to copy them to a cloud service. I would use the crap out of that feature.

[pgg101]

Well don't use it then. Those of us that have Office documents stored on the local network would like to work with those documents without having to copy them to a cloud service. I would use the crap out of that feature.

Agreed. I have documents on my SP3 that I don't want upload to the cloud. With my BlackBerry, I remotely connect to my SP3 to gain access or edit. Now, I don't do it daily, but when I do, it's pretty handy.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android on my BlackBerry Passport

[hotphil]

Well don't use it then. Those of us that have Office documents stored on the local network would like to work with those documents without having to copy them to a cloud service. I would use the crap out of that feature.

On a phone? Well, whatever floats your boat.
But SharePoint etc is the way to go. And the way for MS to rake in some licensing costs.
I'd wash my hands of any file server that my users had file access to from phones.

[Praxius]

I'd use this feature regularly. I like to copy things between my three systems over the network. Being able to do it from my phone and to include my phone in those files would be awesome. Copying my music, documents, being able to use my phone to copy my shows from the PC upstairs to my notebook connected to the tv without having to sit by the tv and to continue using my PC Remote app to remotely play the videos without having to get up would be very beneficial.

Lazy? Maybe...

[hotphil]

That sounds like hard work. Your setup needs some work - it doesn't need to be that difficult!

[docholliday666]

I use Sharefolder over VPN to get files from my servers and cluster anywhere...then setup an access point so that I can send it to another box wherever I'm at. Been doing it since the Symbian days this way, except Symbian had OTG, so I could just get it on the phone, drop it to USB, and plug the key into whatever I was working on.

[Praxius]

That sounds like hard work. Your setup needs some work - it doesn't need to be that difficult!

It's not difficult at all. I don't do these things all the time at the same time. While it isn't difficult, it could still be easier.

If I want to simply copy over a show from one system upstairs to the other downstairs to the TV while I'm busy in another room doing something else, if I could simply whip out my phone and click a file on one system to move to the other without having to leave what I am doing or to go upstairs/downstairs, log in to the system and drag/drop that way, it would be convenient.

Or if I want to add some albums from my PC to my phone without having to turn on and/or setup Bluetooth or plug my phone in using the USB, that too would be nice.

The OneDrive is an interesting feature, but seems like an excessive middle man where I have to move things from a computer or phone, to a cloud drive on the internet and then redownload those files to another system or phone when my unlimited Wi-Fi network is sitting right there and I can keep everything in my own little network.

[hotphil]

I think you're misunderstanding how OneDrive works.
And the point I was getting at is that there's no need to move the files at all...

[PepperdotNet]

I think you're misunderstanding how OneDrive works.
And the point I was getting at is that there's no need to move the files at all...

Sure, if I scrap the way I have everything setup, and convert everything to offsite OneDrive storage.

I have terabytes of videos on a Windows Server in the back room that my XBMC box accesses to view them on the TV. I want some of those videos on my phone. I don't want to have to walk back there and plug the phone in with USB, I don't want to setup OneDrive on the Windows Server machine. How do you suggest I accomplish that? Also, my ISP throttles speed and charges extra fees if I exceed a specific amount of gigabytes per month.

That's two use cases for the feature, if you're keeping count.
1. Corporate policies prevent cloud storage, user is outside where no computer is readily available but has phone in pocket with preloaded Office software and connection to WiFi.
2. Personal media that users stubbornly already have on local network, ISP bills for overages, users don't want to waste their bandwidth to get local files from one device to another by syncing them to a cloud service.

[jhoff80]

Either way, as I mentioned above, there's already a solution, and it only costs $1.49.

[fatclue_98]

So we may or may not be getting something that was baked in on WinMo's File Explorer. File>Open>Open New Path>\\servername\subfolder>Username & Password>Magic!! The little palm facing up was a glory to behold.

Could anything be easier?

[WDavis4692]

Windows 10 for phone will still be an iteration of Windows Phone 8.1

No. It will be an iteration of Windows 10. That's the whole point Microsoft were trying to make with this multi-platform talk.

[jhoff80]

No. It will be an iteration of Windows 10. That's the whole point Microsoft were trying to make with this multi-platform talk.

Unfortunately, that is very likely to be marketing BS.

Look at the two OSes when they're presenting them. They're fundamentally different. The phone version is very clearly just an iteration of Windows Phone 8.1. What it isn't is anything at all like the full version of Windows 10. Now yes, they will both run universal apps, but saying they're the same OS (and calling them by the same OS name) is being intentionally misleading. We just have to hope they're going to port enough features (and have strong enough APIs) to that phone version to be competitive. Expecting the phone version to be Windows 10 without the desktop is setting yourself up for disappointment. I don't expect SMB to be in there, or Homegroups, or any number of Windows 10 features to be in the phone OS.

Don't get me wrong, I think it looks like a solid improvement, but it'd have been far more accurate to use the "Windows 10 Mobile" branding that was previously rumored.

But anyway, to get back on topic, I'll make it even easier for people: ShareFolder Explorer | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

[hotphil]

Sure, if I scrap the way I have everything setup, and convert everything to offsite OneDrive storage.

I have terabytes of videos on a Windows Server in the back room that my XBMC box accesses to view them on the TV. I want some of those videos on my phone. I don't want to have to walk back there and plug the phone in with USB, I don't want to setup OneDrive on the Windows Server machine. How do you suggest I accomplish that? Also, my ISP throttles speed and charges extra fees if I exceed a specific amount of gigabytes per month.

Plex, VPN, better NAS, proper ISP etc. etc.

That's two use cases for the feature, if you're keeping count.
1. Corporate policies prevent cloud storage, user is outside where no computer is readily available but has phone in pocket with preloaded Office software and connection to WiFi.

If corporate policies prevent cloud storage, that's very likely the kind of organisation that really wouldn't want random devices directly accessing files. Still, there may well be someone who wants to do that. Like I say though, there's all sorts of bad practice people seem to live with.

2. Personal media that users stubbornly already have on local network, ISP bills for overages, users don't want to waste their bandwidth to get local files from one device to another by syncing them to a cloud service.

Stream (it's 2015) using some solution or other, get a better ISP etc etc

[runamuck83]

I'm betting a user voice on this would get a lot of votes

[PepperdotNet]

"get a better isp" mind sharing how I do that, with the monopoly situation we have? In some rural parts of the US, you're lucky to get 1.5Mbps DSL, though you can get it from multiple companies the ugly truth is that they all use the same copper wire installed decades ago by the incumbent carrier.

[namy_grooves]

i really want that too!
i dont think it will be included in the upcoming build

[hotphil]

"get a better isp" mind sharing how I do that, with the monopoly situation we have? In some rural parts of the US, you're lucky to get 1.5Mbps DSL, though you can get it from multiple companies the ugly truth is that they all use the same copper wire installed decades ago by the incumbent carrier.

Relocate?
Start your own?
Etc etc

Or we're just back to the start - cruddy bandwidth is probably the main reason why direct access to fileshares from a handset is a bad idea.

[luke_f]

But anyway, to get back on topic, I'll make it even easier for people: ShareFolder Explorer | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)

For copying a file evey now or then, this app might be sufficient. But it is not an integrated solution. I would expect it to be possible to access files stored on my local network from within any app. Just connect my phone to my home network group once, like I do with my tablet, and then being able to open network files from any app, using the standard open file dialog, as soon as I am connected to my home network. I just got a WP a few months ago and I was quite surprised to find out that this is not working out-of-the-box. Really hope that this will come with Windows 10.

Here is s WP user voice item for this:

https://windowsphone.uservoice.com/f...95-file-system

[PepperdotNet]

Relocate?
Start your own?
Etc etc

Or we're just back to the start - cruddy bandwidth is probably the main reason why direct access to fileshares from a handset is a bad idea.

This doesn't even make sense. Because I have cruddy bandwidth for Internet, I should be forced to use an Internet service to access synced copies of my local files. Brilliant.

[EspHack]

I really want that feature, RT can join homegroups, and w10 for phones is supposed to be a mix of current wp and rt, so it should have that feature, the cloud is simply not a replacement for that, imagine you have a 40gb movie on your main pc you want to watch on your phone... its there for those situations when the "cloud" is one of your actual devices, and its only limited by your router's speed, which in most if not all cases is a lot faster than a cloud outside of your LAN

[runamuck83]

This is actually one of the most requested capabilities from my users for their tablet/smartphone. They always come to IT asking how to access the network file shares from their device. Right now the only option is for them to buy an app, which we do not allow because we have no idea how the passwords/authentication works security,etc.

I've been rocking Windows Phone for awhile and we recently started rolling them out to users. The first thing they said was "Awesome now I bet this just easily connects to the network shares right?" Wrong.. The most basic workplace file share use doesn't work on the Windows based phone.

They were all flabbergasted...

I hear people talking about SharePoint - that'd be great if I could get my company to invest the dollars and manpower, but again we wouldn't move EVERYTHING into SharePoint anyway, it would be project based.

OneDrive? Yea, that's great if I want to buy all my users a subscription - or worse allow them to use their own personal copying sensitive company data to their own files. Nope - not happening.

This feature should exist...