Enable Explorer in Vista, Windows 7 and later to see, edit and search on tags and other metadata for any file type

In Windows XP, Explorer could see and edit metadata (for example comments or tags) for any type of file. In Vista and later, this has been possible only for certain types of file, such as Office documents, JPEGs and MP3s.

It is pretty clear that Microsoft originally intended to ship a broader capability. What this package does is just wire up pieces that are already there: the fact that the core functionality is delivered by one 17K DLL (64-bit, release build) and some registry settings tells you how close Microsoft got. This piece connects Explorer's ability to see and edit metadata with NTFS's support for storing property data in an annex to a file.

The reason why this was never shipped is that all works well when the file is moved around between NTFS drives, but the metadata is lost when a file is, say, emailed, or moved to a FAT file system. But I think that this is OK if you're aware of it, and a small price to pay to have metadata on txt files, pdfs, anything! And to help, I've included support for exporting the metadata to a separate XML file, and importing it again to reapply it to the original file elsewhere (or indeed to a different file).

The final element of the package is a file association manager, to turn file metadata support on (and off) per file extension, which is how Explorer knows to allow you to see and edit the metadata. This will not let you interfere where Explorer already knows how to handle a file type, e.g. Office documents or mp3s. This package does not replace existing support from Windows or 3rd party software, but works alongside it. And because Windows Search uses the same property system (from Vista on), you can also search using your metadata, both in Explorer and from the Start Menu.