If you use Windows 7, you might have come across the little 'Golden Padlock' on some of your files. Have you ever wondered what it is? It's Windows 7 and Microsoft's Security Essentials informing you the character mesh, *.map level or game project you just made isn't 'safe', and therefore has proceeded to block or limit access to the file (usually to 'read only') - "for your safety and that of other passengers Windows has determined this file to be unsafe for use and restricted access to 'Read Only'". Wait, what? That's my cuddly teddy bear texture! How can that not be safe!? You made the file, you know it's safe. And yet, because W7 and MSE do not recognise what it is or what you're doing, the default action of the operating system is to treat it like an infection of some description, a sort of 'guilty until proven otherwise' approach to doing things (notice that wasn't "guilty until proven 'innocent'").
To be blunt about the issue, this is Microsoft's way of telling the user two things at the same time, that 1) we don't know what we're doing and 2) we should be using computers to 'consume' media, not 'create' it. The entire User Interface is purposefully designed with this in mind in fact, Wizards and big buttons for "ease of access" that allow certain actions defined by the way Microsoft envision their software being used - we have permission to "watch", "play" and "listen" to photos, movies and music, but not much else. Used within the context of developing content and suddenly time is wasted unblocking files (where's batch unblock?), thumbnails can't be seen, unknown file-type errors crop up and media can't be opened in the application that made it.
If third party application develops can build programs that 'fix' the above, why can't Microsoft? It's no wonder why users are switching to Linux/Android and iOS/Mac.
