Markus wrote:
It is now really standard to have a tree that begins
with "Desktop"
I apologize for that standard.
and includes all those special folders
(My Files, My Pictures etc.) as top level entries.
It actually helps newbies to keep track of their files
and prevents people saving stuff in some system folder
(by obscurity, not by permission).
That standard would be a violation of data integrity,
unless you strongly inform those newbies not to store anything
valuable on their desktops.
For example, several of my XP computers (latest security patches)
in the last month have gotten corrupted user profiles.
In order to repair a corrupted user profile you have to
delete it and recreate it. All the files on the desktop
for that user are automatically erased when you delete
the profile.
Be careful how cool you make your programs look when they
give deceptive clues as to where to put your files.
Tell them never put any files you wish to keep on a desktop.
Just put pointers to where the files really are.