A very timely and informative post.
There's no doubt that Linux, Windows and Mac have very good well-known graphics apps.
But I'll tell ya one thing, IrfanView written by the brilliant Irfan Skiljan and released to the world in 1996 on Windows (free for non-commercial use) is perhaps one of the best light-weight graphics apps I've ever seen that packs a ton of easy-to-use features (view or play anything, batch renaming/resizing, create panoramas with ease, easily touch up photos like a PhotoShop light edition without the bloat, builtin TWAIN support, & waaay more other graphics goodies) - right at your fingertips.
Heck, it only uses around 3 to 10MB RAM when you're viewing pics or doing routine stuff. And there is a free plugin bundle that adds more capabilities for manipulating other file formats or doing more advanced stuff - if you need it.
In fact, every time I do a Windows install for friends or clients, IrfanView is right there to make their digital lives much much easier. I have yet to find any app that allows me to EASILY resize AND rename pics in batch mode.
I kid you not, IrfanView is like the MX Linux (or Point Linux or CrunchBang) of graphic viewers - STABLE, ridiculously efficient, fast, intuitive. Thankfully, it runs in Wine without a hitch - always!
I liked this app so much that I even sent Irfan an email a looong time ago to say hello. I think I even sent him a scenic postcard when I was traveling through East Africa. I've never ever done sh!t like that - for any app developer. But Irfan? No problem, because IrfanView makes me feel like a graphics pro - even though I suck at graphics.
Wanna see how much users love & appreciate Irfan for creating IrfanView?
"In the years since IrfanView hit the Net I've received more than 65,000 e-mail messages thanking me, congratulating me, and wishing me well...I've tried to answer all the messages with at least a Thank You.
I very much appreciate all the messages I receive."
Remember, IrfanView has over 85 million downloads on CNet, and was a pioneer in certain features in a graphics viewer 'back then'. He truly is a legend. And best of all, IrfanView has not seen one bit of bloat compared to its competition. Nada!
Aaah, a timely article on a very important topic.
Many thanks! ;-)
At a client site where I handle all IT chores (part time), I've set them up on JottaCloud which is based in Norway with some of the toughest privacy laws on the planet. Not bad! Simple with many great features & pricing.
It's not open source but this is for an SMB with no full time IT employee so I kept it simple and made sure their data never enters the nosey all-seeing 5Eyes Matrix. ;-)
A very timely and informative post.
There's no doubt that Linux, Windows and Mac have very good well-known graphics apps.
But I'll tell ya one thing, IrfanView written by the brilliant Irfan Skiljan and released to the world in 1996 on Windows (free for non-commercial use) is perhaps one of the best light-weight graphics apps I've ever seen that packs a ton of easy-to-use features (view or play anything, batch renaming/resizing, create panoramas with ease, easily touch up photos like a PhotoShop light edition without the bloat, builtin TWAIN support, & waaay more other graphics goodies) - right at your fingertips.
Heck, it only uses around 3 to 10MB RAM when you're viewing pics or doing routine stuff. And there is a free plugin bundle that adds more capabilities for manipulating other file formats or doing more advanced stuff - if you need it.
In fact, every time I do a Windows install for friends or clients, IrfanView is right there to make their digital lives much much easier. I have yet to find any app that allows me to EASILY resize AND rename pics in batch mode.
I kid you not, IrfanView is like the MX Linux (or Point Linux or CrunchBang) of graphic viewers - STABLE, ridiculously efficient, fast, intuitive. Thankfully, it runs in Wine without a hitch - always!
I liked this app so much that I even sent Irfan an email a looong time ago to say hello. I think I even sent him a scenic postcard when I was traveling through East Africa. I've never ever done sh!t like that - for any app developer. But Irfan? No problem, because IrfanView makes me feel like a graphics pro - even though I suck at graphics.
Wanna see how much users love & appreciate Irfan for creating IrfanView?
"In the years since IrfanView hit the Net I've received more than 65,000 e-mail messages thanking me, congratulating me, and wishing me well...I've tried to answer all the messages with at least a Thank You.
I very much appreciate all the messages I receive."
Remember, IrfanView has over 85 million downloads on CNet, and was a pioneer in certain features in a graphics viewer 'back then'. He truly is a legend. And best of all, IrfanView has not seen one bit of bloat compared to its competition. Nada!
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IrfanView