Everyone needs a good image manager. There are so many graphically intensive things happening all over your machine that not owning an image viewer/manager will dearly set you back. While Irfan view and ACDSee are still the most common image management utilities, there are quite a few other brilliant pieces of software out there that have risen from being underdogs, to some real competition. XnView is a prime example for that.
XnView can easily be mistaken for ACDSee with its similar interface and functionality, but at a closer look you'll see how XnView does have quite a few original ideas going for it that may make it a preferred image manager for a lot of people. And the best part is its free for non-commercial use.
Setup and Interface
The installation was quick and easy with minimal required user inputs. No serial numbers were asked for, and there were no "register now' nags during the installation.
Once set up, the main interface window will immediately remind you of ACDSees tri-window interface: one for the folder tree, one for the list of files inside the folder and the third a preview pane. The toolbar on the top has buttons for basic functions like print, file open, options along with some advance functions like create contact sheet, screen capture, etc.

Double-clicking on any file name in the browser will open it in viewer mode, when you can see the complete image in its original size (or fitted to your screen if you have selected the option). The viewer mode opens up with the navigation toolbar which you can get rid of by going top the full-screen mode.
The interface overall is quite user-friendly with all the required options easily accessible to an experienced user.
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by Anonymous, gfgfg, on Dec 25, 2008 11:20 AM, Report abuse Reply