1) yes, that is a microwave with recirculating vent, which is a poor (not favored by many here) means of ventilation for over cooktop or range.

2) i’m guessing lack of other responses is due to the fact that microwave drawers have been discussed here in so very many threads already, over past many years...

Thanks bemocked. I have since read through the drawer posts! I still haven’t come across many threads or seen many over the range microwaves placed above a countertop like the attached photo.

I have the sharp drawer and I MOSTLY love it. I have very few uppers so I did not want to sacrifice prime cabinet space for a microwave. And the cooking functions of the drawer are pretty awesome (fresh veggie auto setting is fantastic).

The only thing I don't love is where I put it! It had to live on the island so it was either going to be staring into the dining room, or it was going to be close to the fridge and sink, or be facing the stove. I chose close to fridge and sink ... and would choose that again, but I wish the drawer was faster in the open/close movement. When it is open it feels in the way ... for the agonizing 17 seconds it takes (I made up that number). I know I am irrationally impatient with it, and I will adapt ... but if you can put it somewhere more out of the way that would be ideal IMHO.

Thank you Pam A and Karen Rose! This is reassuring.

We love our microwave drawer. It is easy to access and overall feels much safer than one that is placed at upper cabinet level, plus we love that it's not on the counter top. It's a huge win all the way around.

Love my mw drawer.

We also have the Sharp MW drawer & love it
seems when hubby was researching he found out , sharp makes all the MWD & other vendors buy a d put their own trim kits on them & Sharp was the lowest cost. We placed ours in our island.

I put mine on a microwave shelf over the counter, with an outlet installed behind it. If I ever need to replace it, I can easily do it myself.

We are doing something similar to Mo, except in the base cabinets because I didn't want it sticking out - and I didn't want to get trapped into any very specific brand or style of microwave.

Undercabinet microwave ovens (installed like in your photo):

1a. GE Profile PEM31SFSS 24 Inch 1.1 cu. ft. Capacity Countertop Microwave ($350)

plus

1b. GE JXA019K Under Cabinet Microwave Mounting Kit ($40)

-OR-

2. Sharp R1214TY 1.5 cu. ft. Over the Counter Microwave ($340)

Note: ALL those drawer microwave ovens are made by one company, Sharp, and start at $950 for 24" and $1300 for 30".

Just redid my entire kitchen, put in new Sharp microwave Wave drawer. I love it. You can see my post regarding my renovation.

When we redid our kitchen, we put an over-the-range microwave over a section of counter since we wanted a hood over the range itself. It's been great, and I'm always surprised that more people don't do the same thing.

(In my mind, it looks much better than the cabinets that just have an open shelf for a random countertop microwave to sit on.)

If we'd had more lower cabinet space, I'd have gone for the Sharp microwave drawer, but I didn't want to give up a drawer unit below to squeeze in a microwave.

Here's a photo (pardon the clutter)

following