WinSurfer

WinSurfer (TM) for Windows lets you gracefully and rapidly examine your directories and invoke file actions. This new information visualization and management tool makes possible grater control of your hard disk with a colorful, eye-catching mosaic of 3000 or more directories and files. After more than 3 years of research and development, the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory at the University of Maryland is proud to release WinSurfer (TM) for your use with Microsoft Windows 3.1.

Click on the image above to retrieve a 44K life-size snapshot of the WinSurfer (TM) interface to your external viewer.

Initially each tile's area matches the file size, and the color shows file type, but you can also show file age or use a constant size. The overview shows you how you are using your disk space, and then zooming in on directories lets you get down deep into the details.

You can click on the files to view, move, copy, rename, or delete them, or to execute programs or create directories. With WinSurfer (TM) you'll be able to take better control of your disk space, organize your files, or make sense of a new set of directories rapidly.

WinSurfer (TM) is based on the Treemap (TM) concept developed in 1991 by Ben Shneiderman. The screen space is sliced and diced recusively to preserve structure while showing details. Brian Johnson implmented an early Macintosh prototype, and David Turo developed a Sun version. Empirical studies showed significant benefits for many tasks with only 15 - 20 minutes of training. WinSurfer (TM) was written by Marko Teittinen using Galaxy from Visix Corporation and the University of Maryland Widget Library (TM)

We never produced a Windows 95 or later version of WinSurfer, but a commercial product based on our treemap is sold by Micro Logic Corp and called DiskMapper http://www.miclog.com/dmdesc.htm.