How to get icon overlays with git-extensions

Question

I have been using svn for quite some time now. But now I have shifted to git. As per my findings Tortoise Git does not provide you with a good understanding of how git works, that's why I picked git-extensions.

The problem is that I am used to the overlay icons that Tortoise used to provide me. I really want them while using git. I am not really sure about how we can get these overlays in git-extensions. Can some one tell me how can I get these overlays back on my system?

PS: I don't want to use Tortoise since, it hides the core concept/working of git. Also, my operating system is windows 7.

I am open to other GUI options also, provided they help me understand how git works.

Currently I am using Tortoise with Git extensions. Which is kind of clumsy.

Answer 1

GitExtensions is awesome for the true git experience. TortoiseGit obscures Git, forcing it into a "simple" experience. TortoiseGit has icon overlays though. The two work quite nicely together, so just install them both, use them for their strengths, and ignore them for their weaknesses.

Answer 2

I don't see any icon overlay proposed by gitextensions (see its GitHub repo).

So amongst the other GUI for Git on Windows, one of the most complete would be SmartGit (but not free though), and none offers overlays at the Windows Explorer level.