What you really want a lot of the time is New for Project (...based on template, or based on copy) with support for projects built into the OS and applications.
So - for example - instead of folders you'd see the same list of popular/recent/alphabetised projects in every app.
And you could link project collections into super-projects with links and/or copies of specific data and working environments.
The nested filing cabinet + aliases metaphor is old and never really worked all that well anyway, but we're stuck with it because it was easy to implement back when all of this was first designed and computers were a thousand times slower.
Sort of… it is the idea of having a bunch of files that are multiple types located in an organized space. E.g. in your home office you may have papers, but also notebooks, envelopes, cds, etc; whatever you find is useful for storing information. You have them organized on your desk in a way that works well for you. If you need a tool to read one (like a cd will need a cd player) you bring the item to the tool in order to use it.
Modern computers are trying to move away from the concept of a “desktop” or filesystem, and instead you open up the file you want from within the program that you use to open it. It would be like you have all your cds in a big jukebox that you can select from, or all your documents in a big binder, or something like that. They become isolated within the devices you use to read them.
It may be better for some people, but that is not how I like to organize things. Particularly when I want to move something from one device to another.
So - for example - instead of folders you'd see the same list of popular/recent/alphabetised projects in every app.
And you could link project collections into super-projects with links and/or copies of specific data and working environments.
The nested filing cabinet + aliases metaphor is old and never really worked all that well anyway, but we're stuck with it because it was easy to implement back when all of this was first designed and computers were a thousand times slower.