Well, if you select a folder in Explorer, all the files are selected by default. I mean, hitting delete kills the whole folder.
nope, it doesn't (German XP Pro). this only happens when the focus is on the tree pane.... and then you have something that is selected: the folder shown on the right pane.
if you put the focus on the right pane and don't select anything and hit 'del', nothing happens.
Also, if you pick a tree folder (like a playlist), it's really nice to be able to edit the properties or view the statistics for all the songs without doing a "select all".
Is there some intuitive middle ground?
first, if in doubt, go the safe way: nothing selected only shows statistics and stuff, but can't change anything....
my second idea would be:
if the last focus was in the tree pane, make it change everything, if the last focus was in the listview, don't do anything.
I know, this sounds even more confusing, but this would require one more thing to be implemented:
two different kinds of non-focus-highlight.. one that's just as it is right now (solid, but dimed) and one that is just a frame around the highlighted item.
the solid one would indicate the last active focus. the frame would just be used when putting the focus back to that frame (like when using TAB).
just ideas.....
Keep in mind that answers can not include the word "option"
ok... looking up something in openoffice's thesaurus: how about making it a user's choice? ;-)