Windows 7 bug: missing shared hand icon

Windows 7 bug: missing shared hand icon

One of the main purposes for the Windows 7 release is to by simplifying the user interface to reduce the user’s large cognitive loads.

The special thing in Windows 7 is the Home Group in the consumer space, easily shared the major part of the users’ content.

Sharing overlay appears frequently in typical Explorer views in the previous overlay model, which annoying the users that they might not use or need on a daily basis.

A user may have a higher cognitive load because previously sharing by a single user overlay doesn’t give information about how an item is shared and any kinds of privileges are assigned or not.

In some scenarios the sharing overlay was shown not consistently before the Windows 7, which caused user confusion. At the base of the above conditions as a result, from the items view in Explorer the sharing overlay was removed.

Windows 7 bug: missing shared hand icon

Microsoft’s decision about removing the sharing hand icon overlay has resulted to many users complaining about this change. According to Microsoft, painting the overlays or the sharing hand icon overlay on multiple folders drains valuable system resources. The “sharing hand” overlay also doesn’t contribute to Microsoft’s vision of usability. Here is one way how you can locate your shared folders:

• Status bar – if you open a folder with Windows Explorer that happens to be shared, the state of the folder is displayed in the status bar.

The problem here is that it isn’t intuitive to check the status bar to see the folder status and also, the status bar is visible only if you enter a folder.