Image viewers are essentially file management apps specifically tailored for graphics files. They're meant to help organize pics and usually throw in some minor editing tools for good measure.
The industry standard is
ACDSee.
Unfortunately it also costs a whopping $129.00. Since there are so many worthwhile free alternatives out there I can't possibly see a need to blow that kind of dough (corporate use is of course something else entirely).
Most people are familiar with the freeware alternatives IrfanView & Picasa (now owned by Google) but they are hardly the only two options out there.
Since I'm an application whore I tend to get bored and check to see what's new from time to time so....
Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition
---Haven't used it personally but let's face it Adobe is the 800lb gorilla in the graphics market.
DIMIN Viewer n5
---Has a "big image navigator", whatever the hell that is. On the other hand it has a few different install sizes so you can tailor the feature set/size to your needs.
EXIF Image Viewer
---The predecessor to Exif Pro. More limited in functionality but much smaller for those who want to save space or throw it on an older thumb drive.
Exif Pro
---Visually marks the thumbnails in the folders with file type (if other than .jpg), any **** tags, lack of exif data etc. Makes for a nice reference.
EyeBrowse
---An older program that's a bit on the clunky side compared to some of the newer apps. However the creator also put out
EyeBrowse Lite which is even tinier than Exif Image Viewer and might be worth a look for the ultra portable app freaks.
FastPictureViewer
---Looks kinda shiny and claims to support multi-core CPUs so it should be speedy (and indeed that appears to be their claim to fame).
FastStone Image Viewer
---Similar to XnView below. It's a bit faster and has a nice menu bar when in full screen mode. On the negative side it doesn't support nearly as many file types.
Fresh View
---Stands out from the pack a bit in that it supports audio & video as well as images. The pink buttons stand out as well...and not in a good way.
ImageSorter
---Just happened to stumble across this one. It doesn't appear to have any editing tools at all but the fact it lets you sort by color is pretty damn cool!
IrfanView
---IrFanview's been around for awhile and is by far the most commonly recommended. That being said IrFan Thumbnails is a separate app and much like EXIF Image Viewer & EyeBrowse it's on the clunky/outdated side.
Photoscape
---Much like Google's Picasa Photoscape is a nice "all in one" app for those who just want easy oragnizing and basic editing without resorting to multiple complicated programs.
Picasa
---Part of the Google plan for world domination. Picasa has all the bells & whistles and is integrated with Google's Picasa Web Albums and offers 1GB of free storage.
Is designed for non-techies and is easy to use. It's also a bit bloated and is laggier than some of the other options.
Pictomio
---Holy eye candy Batman! 3-D FX and other shizzle (you're gonna need a modern video card for this one, it has pretty hefty requirements in order to run all that bling).
Uticasoft Image Browser Arctic
WildBit Viewer
XnView
---XnView is my personal choice. Tabbed interface so you can open multiple images, Enough editing tools without becoming overkill, relatively speedy & handles a metric buttload of file extensions.
---Out of the above I've tried Exif Pro, FastStone, IrFanView, Picassa & XnView. As I mentioned XnView ist the one I ended up sticking with so far.
I'm definitely planning on downloading ImageSorter, Pictomio & Fresh View (and maybe FastPictureViewer) just to see if any of their unique schticks are worth keeping.
Linear Mode
