Whenever I see a post like this I think it's circling around a different problem. It would seem that the overall task or project that a person is using the computer for in a particular moment is important but there is no modern OS (that I know of) that keeps track of this context.
Such a system might be a sort of metadata API for tasks or projects. The system would have a built in task tracking application that would interface with this API. (Which could be pluggable) The metadata for a task could hold a lot of information. For example a default directory where files for the task are stored could be created when the task is created. Other applications like a word processor could query the API to find out where to store its files. Web browsers could store what pages a user looks at for a task. E-Mail clients could offer the current task as a folder to store messages in. When the user switches tasks the currently open applications would be messaged and could open files the user had open when they were perviously working on that task. Finally when a user marks a task as completed all the files and messages related to that task could be archived together.
For the novice user of this system things like the file system go away. Their view is the projects that they are currently working on. The file system will still be there under the covers but user doesn't need to see it. The power user might have tools for developing common project workflows.
Such a system might be a sort of metadata API for tasks or projects. The system would have a built in task tracking application that would interface with this API. (Which could be pluggable) The metadata for a task could hold a lot of information. For example a default directory where files for the task are stored could be created when the task is created. Other applications like a word processor could query the API to find out where to store its files. Web browsers could store what pages a user looks at for a task. E-Mail clients could offer the current task as a folder to store messages in. When the user switches tasks the currently open applications would be messaged and could open files the user had open when they were perviously working on that task. Finally when a user marks a task as completed all the files and messages related to that task could be archived together.
For the novice user of this system things like the file system go away. Their view is the projects that they are currently working on. The file system will still be there under the covers but user doesn't need to see it. The power user might have tools for developing common project workflows.