Rejected ideas

Keep the path entry minibuffer open at all times. We had a patch for this, but it turned out it wasn't useful (even the original author requested it be removed). Pressing / is pretty easy.
Back and Forward browser-type buttons. Again, we had a patch for this and again it was decided to remove it. The extra buttons make the interface much more confusing for very little gain. See the 'Recently Visited' submenu from the bookmarks button for an easier way to backtrack.
Have a script (App Dir/AppBoot) that gets run when you open a filer window showing the application (like RISC OS did). This is a massive security risk. Some people suggest reducing what the script can do (eg, only setting environment variables). It doesn't matter; any change is a security risk (setting PATH is an obvious example, but even something 'harmless' like BROWSER will allow anyone to hijack your machine the next time you try to view a URL).