Total Commander

A sore point has been raised here, but I suggest looking at a more optimal solution to exclude unpleasant text in the TC header:
leave the text unchanged, but add a modified look to the bottom of the TC icon by overlaying the red/orange symbol: ➚⇗↗⇧↑ or something like that.

Depending on screen resolution such an Overlay can be very small and hard to see.
The current solution is readable and gives no other problems, so why change it ?

You're clearly exaggerating the problem of icon readability. Choosing the best option is not a problem at all.
The fact of the indication will be instantly detected by the user even by the usual bright spot, and faster than by the text, which is by no means obvious to everyone.
And the current state worth changing because many users don't like it. Bad decisions can always be replaced by good ones.

Horst.Epp wrote: 2023-11-28, 09:03 UTC Depending on screen resolution such an Overlay can be very small and hard to see.
The current solution is readable and gives no other problems, so why change it ?

100% agreed

Unsubstantiated. )
Many users, when switching to Win 7, having seen a caret with an extra text, met this fact negatively.
I don't think anything has changed since then, we just put up with it.

Another good option is to repaint the diskette red or black.

On my screen the TC icon in the header has 4mm across. I can't even read the "64" text in it unless I'm looking like 10cm from the screen. So there is no way I would notice some tiny overlay in that icon.
Having "^" after my name makes it look weird, so I notice it.

On the other hand, recently I noticed a trend where apps in admin mode are replacing their icon with a full sized shield icon. Or like Windows Terminal, showing a shield icon additionally to normal icons. That would be visible and also more "modern" than a "^".

Also, if you really want to have an icon overlay suggesting an admin mode, it should be the colorful shield, that Windows automatically adds to all installer icons and what you see in elevation requests. For consistency. That's what users associate with an admin mode.

Please don't change anything here, and I'm sure this won't happen.

The ^ is part of the text-based title line and that's how it should be.

I also don't want everyone to discover right away when I use Tc as an administrator on the customer site.

Everything else is not appropriate at a professional tool.

From there it goes to “will not be changed”.

Joube

umbra wrote: 2023-11-28, 18:48 UTC On my screen the TC icon in the header has 4mm across. I can't even read the "64" text in it unless I'm looking like 10cm from the screen.

4 mm? It's too little. How many inches is the screen, and what is the system scale?

umbra wrote: 2023-11-28, 18:48 UTC So there is no way I would notice some tiny overlay in that icon.

But I haven't specified the dimensions yet. This can be considered by examples.

umbra wrote: 2023-11-28, 18:48 UTC Having "^" after my name makes it look weird, so I notice it.

Weird is an understatement. It looks clumsy, like a bad design.

umbra wrote: 2023-11-28, 18:48 UTC That would be visible and also more "modern" than a "^".

Can you give a screenshot?
I suggested repainting the floppy. IIsn't that an option?

JOUBE wrote: 2023-11-28, 19:50 UTC The ^ is part of the text-based title line and that's how it should be.

Where does it say what should? Do you know many examples?

JOUBE wrote: 2023-11-28, 19:50 UTC I also don't want everyone to discover right away when I use Tc as an administrator on the customer site.

Those who use TC will understand this in any case.

JOUBE wrote: 2023-11-28, 19:50 UTC Everything else is not appropriate at a professional tool.

I don't see anything professional in these excesses.

I don't mind having an option to switch between an icon and the existing circumflex, or even having both at the same time. But replacing the circumflex? No way!

Keep in mind that the TC icon in the title bar can be changed with the IconLib setting in wincmd.ini, so having TC switch to a different icon would break part of that functionality. Using an overlay would work, but it must be large enough to be seen at first glance and without having to squint. A tiny arrow like suggested in the OP doesn't cut it in my opinion. A shield icon would be OK, but if that were to be retrieved from a Windows resource DLL you run into trouble very quickly if MS changes the icon number or name in that DLL.

If something were to be changed about this feature, I vote for an option that is able to switch the existing circumflex and a shield overlay independently from each other. But I see no real reason to change anything to be honest. There are more important things in TC (or lack thereof) to work on.

Regards
Dalai

If you look in your tc folder you can see there is already an icon for admin incl. overlay of the windows admin icon. The TC logo with a yellow shield and a red ! mark

TCMADM64.EXE
TCMADMIN.EXE
TCMDX32.EXE
TCMDX64.EXE

easy to extract and use in an IconLib

The funny thing is that Windows recognizes the TCMADMIN.EXE/TCMADM64.EXE as app requiring elevated priviledges and in Explorer it draws its shield overlay over the one in the icon.

Fla$her wrote: 2023-11-28, 21:06 UTC 4 mm? It's too little. How many inches is the screen, and what is the system scale?

27" 4K, standard 150%. The text is smaller than on a classic FHD, but very crisp, so it's legible just fine. And app support for hi-res displays has improved a lot in the last few years. Luckily, in TC, too.

Fla$her wrote: 2023-11-28, 21:06 UTC But I haven't specified the dimensions yet. This can be considered by examples.

I have yet to see an icon overlay bigger than a quarter of the icon size.

Fla$her wrote: 2023-11-28, 21:06 UTC Weird is an understatement. It looks clumsy, like a bad design.

Nothing new in TC. And yet it gets the job done

The idea with multiple icons would probably not work for a classic WinAPI app like TC - I don't think you can draw a picture in title bar. So we are left with changing the main icon or the text. Or nothing

JOUBE wrote: 2023-11-28, 19:50 UTC I also don't want everyone to discover right away when I use Tc as an administrator on the customer site.

That would actually be a reason TO make it more noticeable. Customers that care about such things often have good reasons for that.

2Dalai
It's not a circumflex, it's a caret.
I agree to an optional choice. The main thing is that it was. The Windows library is not an option. hi5 correctly noticed that there is already a suitable icon.

so having TC switch to a different icon would break part of that functionality.

You don't mean the icon, but the library, apparently.
Of course, another library will need to be modified. It's okay, it's not a problem.