Single-click or double-click in lists to start an action?

This is question about usability.

I develop a Windows application (standalone, not Web) that contains, partially, several list controls. The controls display some type of objects. Using such control a user browses set of available objects, then he double clicks on an object to start corresponding task. Pretty usual.



I think about replacing the double click with single click in these lists:


- when user puts cursor on the item the cursor becomes ‘hand with index finger, and the item becomes highlighted ;

- single click performs action that required double click before;

- double click will lead to the same action as single click;
Well, this is close to usual mode ‘Single-click to open an item’ that Windows uses for Windows Explorer since 1998.



Me personally like single-click mode more than double-click. I have feeling that last 10 years the ‘single-click mode’ replaces the old ‘double-click mode’ while working with lists/tables. Example: Control Panel in Win7. It has single-click mode (I mean All Control Panel Items level) even when ‘Double-click to open an item’ mode is set in Folder Options.



Can someone provide any statistics that proves (or disproves) this my conclusion?

For browsing is single-click acceptable, but for staring action I would prefer double-click. What about if the action is something destructive? There should be more effort to start it than change focused item in the list.

No, in my situation an active cannot be 'destructive' or just 'taking too much time to react on Stop signal'.