1. A method of sharing a plurality of items stored on a user's computing device, wherein the plurality of items are arranged according to a physical file system structure of an operating system, the method comprising: storing a plurality of items on a user's computing device, wherein the plurality of items are arranged according to a physical file system structure of an operating system located on the user's computing device; storing in the operating system one or more values corresponding to operating system properties for each of the plurality of items stored on the user's computing device; creating via the operating system a data object corresponding to a virtual folder representing one or more of the plurality of items stored on the user's computing device, wherein the virtual folder comprises a location-independent view that exposes said one or more items, and further wherein the location-independent view is based on metadata associated with the one or more items; displaying via the operating system the data object corresponding to the virtual folder representing one or more of the plurality of items stored on the user's computing device, wherein said virtual folder is navigable according to one or more arbitrary parameters independent of the physical file system structure; receiving via the operating system a user request to share one or more of the plurality of items stored on the user's computing device that are represented by the virtual folder with one or more sharees, wherein sharing the one or more items comprises allowing the one or more sharees direct access to the user's computing device on which the one or more items are stored; and setting permissions on the one or more shared items that are represented by the virtual folder to provide the one or more sharees direct access to said shared items stored on the user's computing device, wherein setting permissions comprises: verifying that an operating system file share exists from which a first shared item represented by the virtual folder can be accessed remotely; and if an operating system file share exists, setting an operating system permission property on the operating system file share, wherein the operating system permission property is set so as to allow the one or more sharees access to the first shared item represented by the virtual folder.