Microsoft's decade-old patent on tree-view mode!

BhaKi writes: "Remember the Tree-View mode in many file management applications? It's shocking to know that this omnipresent feature was patented by Microsoft back in 1995 (granted in 1997). I'm not very sure about the implications, though. The patent is so general that it can be related to many things from tree-mode to virtual filesystems. Check out claim no. 3 of the patent for the most clear part. What are your comments?

http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5689662/claims.html"