Microsoft recently updated its Windows Phone software with Cortana and a notification menu, and now it's about to give the operating system another long-requested feature among users: a File Manager.

During a Reddit "Ask me Anything", where notable individuals (or anyone really) can prompt others to ask questions about any topic, a Microsoft executive announced today that the Windows Phone team is almost finished developing and testing a File Manager for Windows Phone 8.1, and that the app, which would let users browse, find, and organise files on their Windows phone, could launch in May.

Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president and manager for Windows Phone Program Management at Microsoft, explained - rather enthusiastically - to redditors in the AMA that he's been avoided announcing on Twitter that a File Manager app is currently in the works for Windows Phone 8.1. So, why has he avoided the announcement, you may ask? He simply wanted to make the big reveal on Reddit:

"WOO HOO! SOMEONE ASKED THIS QUESTION!! I've been waiting! in fact, I've avoided tweeting on this very topic just for all you redditors. Seriously," wrote Belfiore on Reddit. "*** YES *** We are doing a File Manager for WP8.1! I know a LOT of you are looking for this (thanks for the tweets, I've read them all). In fact, I've been running a build of it on two of my phones for the last week or so and it's getting to pretty good shape." [sic]

READ: Windows Phone 8.1 review

Belfiore also posted a link to a few screenshots to prove the app is almost ready for the Windows Phone Store. In fact, he said the team is expecting to release it "hopefully" by the end of May. That means Microsoft's mobile OS might soon become far more productive and useful - in terms of managing specific files - than stock Android and iOS. Both systems don't provide a dedicated file system, though there are some third-party apps available that do the trick.

Check out the gallery below to see screenshots of the File Manager.