Windows UI evolution: Clicking an unassociated file

Windows UI 演进：点击未关联的文件

2026-06-20 (I don’t plan on doing lots more of these Windows UI blog posts. I just came across this and found it interesting. Besides, it’s super hot where I live and I can’t do anything meaningful anyway, so here we go.) 2026-06-20（我并不打算写太多关于 Windows UI 的博客文章。只是刚好碰到了这个话题，觉得挺有意思。况且我住的地方天气实在太热，我也干不了什么正经事，所以就这样吧。）

Let’s open the file manager and click on a file that is not a .EXE or something known to the system like .TXT. What happens? I don’t have access to each and every version of Windows under the sun, only to a few of them. Let’s have a look at those. I also translated some of the German labels into English, but it’s quite possible that these buttons are called a little differently in the original English versions. 让我们打开文件管理器，点击一个既不是 .EXE 也不是系统已知类型（如 .TXT）的文件。会发生什么？我无法接触到世上所有的 Windows 版本，只能测试其中几个。让我们来看看这些版本。我还将一些德语标签翻译成了英语，但原始英文版本中的按钮名称可能略有不同。

In Windows 386/2.11 (1989), you just get a “nope” (translation of the image: “ABC.OMG is not executable”): This version of Windows already had the concept of “open file type $foo with program $bar”, but apparently there was no UI to configure this. Or I couldn’t find it. You could set up the associations in WIN.INI: 在 Windows 386/2.11 (1989) 中，你只会得到一个“拒绝”（图片翻译：“ABC.OMG 不是可执行文件”）：这个版本的 Windows 已经有了“用程序 $bar 打开文件类型 $foo”的概念，但显然没有配置它的 UI。或者说我没找到。你可以在 WIN.INI 中设置关联：

Windows 3.1 (1992) improved the situation a little bit: It still just tells you “no”, but it now also tells you that there is a concept of file type associations and where to configure them. This gets you to a basic but functional dialog window: The text box at the top lets you enter the filename extension, the list box at the bottom allows you to select one of the installed programs. If it isn’t in the list, you can hit the “Durchsuchen…” (“Search…”) button to select an arbitrary program. Windows 3.1 (1992) 改善了一些情况：它依然只是告诉你“不行”，但现在它会告知你存在“文件类型关联”这一概念，以及在哪里进行配置。这会带你进入一个基础但实用的对话框：顶部的文本框让你输入文件扩展名，底部的列表框允许你选择已安装的程序之一。如果列表中没有，你可以点击“Durchsuchen…” (“搜索…”) 按钮来选择任意程序。

Windows NT 3.1 (1993) is basically the same (as is Windows for Workgroups 3.11, by the way): Windows NT 3.1 (1993) 基本相同（顺便提一下，Windows for Workgroups 3.11 也是如此）：

Windows 95 (1995) was a big step up, because you now get a dialog window where you can select the desired program right there — no need anymore to navigate someplace else: If the program isn’t listed, you can hit the “Andere…” (“Others…”) button to select a program directly. This behavior remained the same in Windows 98, Windows ME, and Windows 2000: Windows 95 (1995) 是一个巨大的进步，因为你现在可以直接在弹出的对话框中选择所需的程序，无需再跳转到其他地方：如果程序不在列表中，你可以点击“Andere…” (“其他…”) 按钮直接选择程序。这种行为在 Windows 98、Windows ME 和 Windows 2000 中保持不变：

And then Windows XP (2001) came along and it now tried to nudge you to use some kind of web service, because The Internet was “finally” everywhere™: Sadly, I don’t know anymore what kind of web service that was. If you do, please tell me. It was most likely run by Microsoft, but what was its database? Which programs did it list? How did it query this database — did it upload the entire file or parts of it or just the filename extension? Did it offer to install a program on your PC? (I vaguely remember that this service was used as an attack vector of some kind and that magazines wrote “don’t use this!!1!”, but I’m not sure anymore.) 接着 Windows XP (2001) 出现了，它开始引导你使用某种网络服务，因为互联网“终于”无处不在了™：遗憾的是，我不记得那是什么样的网络服务了。如果你知道，请告诉我。它很可能是由微软运营的，但它的数据库是什么？它列出了哪些程序？它是如何查询这个数据库的——是上传了整个文件、部分文件，还是仅仅上传了文件扩展名？它是否会建议在你的电脑上安装程序？（我隐约记得这个服务曾被用作某种攻击媒介，杂志上写着“别用这个！！1！”，但我不太确定了。）

— edit: Okay, as a reader told me, this did nothing but open a website in Internet Explorer, sending the filename extension as a query string. The service has been shut down since 2006, they say. And it was pretty useless, apparently. The reader speculates that only Microsoft-certified partners might have ended up here and notes that even popular filetypes like .3GP weren’t recognized. You can give it a shot yourself by asking the Internet Archive. ——编辑：好吧，正如一位读者告诉我的，这其实只是在 Internet Explorer 中打开一个网站，并将文件扩展名作为查询字符串发送过去。据说该服务自 2006 年起就已关闭。显然它相当没用。该读者推测，可能只有微软认证的合作伙伴才会出现在这里，并指出即使是像 .3GP 这样流行的文件类型也无法识别。你可以通过 Internet Archive 自己尝试一下。

If you didn’t want to use that service, you could select the second radio button to get to the old dialog: 如果你不想使用该服务，可以选择第二个单选按钮进入旧的对话框：

— edit: I dug up a beta version of Windows Vista that I had on an old DVD (evaluation build 5600 from the year 2006). It looks a little different than XP but does basically the same thing: ——编辑：我翻出了一张旧 DVD 里存的 Windows Vista 测试版（2006 年的评估版本 5600）。它看起来和 XP 有点不同，但功能基本一致：

Now there’s a big gap. I don’t have access to anything between Windows XP Vista and Windows 10. So, Windows 10 (2015) is next: 现在中间有一个巨大的断层。我无法接触到 Windows XP/Vista 到 Windows 10 之间的任何版本。所以，接下来是 Windows 10 (2015)：

Ouch, we have clearly entered the “everything is flat” era now and you can’t really tell anymore which items on the screen are interactive. Even the window decorations are gone. The text at the top (“Im Store nach einer App suchen” — “Search Store for App”) is actually a button that you can click (the icon is probably supposed to indicate that?). “Weitere Apps” (“Other Apps”) is also something that you can click (indicated by the color, like a web link) and it opens a list: 哎呀，我们显然已经进入了“一切皆扁平”的时代，你已经无法分辨屏幕上的哪些项目是可以交互的了。连窗口装饰都没了。顶部的文字（“Im Store nach einer App suchen”——“在商店中搜索应用”）实际上是一个可以点击的按钮（图标大概是为了暗示这一点？）。“Weitere Apps”（“其他应用”）也是可以点击的（通过颜色标示，就像网页链接一样），点击后会打开一个列表：

Again, this shows the installed programs. Sorry, they’re called “Apps” now. What you might not be able to tell immediately is that you can scroll this window to reveal the third option: If the list doesn’t contain the program that you want, you can click the button/text/whatever “Andere App auf diesem PC suchen” (“Look for different App on this PC”). And that’s it. 这再次显示了已安装的程序。抱歉，现在它们被称为“应用”了。你可能无法立即发现的是，你可以滚动这个窗口来显示第三个选项：如果列表中没有你想要的程序，你可以点击那个按钮/文字/无论是什么的“Andere App auf diesem PC suchen”（“在此电脑上查找其他应用”）。就是这样。

I don’t have access to any other versions of Windows. (— edit: I know that I could show more versions because I can most likely get all the installers from The Internet. Sorry, not in the mood at the moment, it’s way too hot around here.) Enjoy summer. 🥵 我无法接触到其他任何 Windows 版本。（——编辑：我知道我可以展示更多版本，因为我很有可能从互联网上找到所有的安装程序。抱歉，现在没心情，这儿实在太热了。）享受夏天吧。🥵