Please make integrating with Windows networks easier than it currently is

[feltz916]

Problem

This post is probably a combination of a Help Request, a Feature Request, as well as a Bug Report.

For the record, i LOVE this distro, and consider myself a power user of Linux in general. I also have a decent knowledge of networking in general, mostly on the Windows side of things, so it frustrating to see what a constant struggle it is to get connectivity (shared folders, etc) between OSes.

Out of the box, Elementary OS has a Network Browser integrated with the file system, that when navigating to it, you get an option for "Windows Network". Double clicking on this network leads you to a dialog that it is unable to mount the folder.

If this distribution is intended to be a Windows or MacOS replacement, why can it not have the required libraries and/or configurations either setup and installed by default, or at least some prompts during installation that allows you to connect to Windows shares?

Again, to repeat, i am probably more knowledgeable in this area than the average user, and I have still failed to make networking between my various computers work, after extensive nights of package installs, .conf file modifications, reboots, policy modifications, and the like.

Proposal

During Installation:

• Give a prompt during install that will automatically setup any extra required libraries that allow for easy connectivity between Elementary OS and Windows. (ie: Windows network browsing should be able to see network shares from Elementary OS, and Network Browser should be able to see Windows shares and connect to them with proper credentials)
• Add some scripts / UI / system that allows a user to run this configuration post installation, in case they did not choose it during initial setup.

Prior Art (Optional)

No response