[6] Microsoft Windows

ACDSee is a very fast, easy to use JPEG/GIF/PNG/etc viewer.  Good viewing
and browsing capabilities, including a fast preview display; but no image
editing or conversion functions.  The Windows 95/NT version supports
progressive JPEG, but the Windows 3.1 release does not.  Both versions
are available from http://www.acdvictoria.com/acd/download.html or
ftp.acdsystems.com:/pub/acdsee95/.  Shareware, $30.

LView Pro is a viewer/editor/converter for JPEG, GIF, BMP, and other
formats.  It offers a wide array of image editing functions and can load
JPEGs in either fast/low-quality or slow/high-quality modes.  Requires 386
or better CPU.  The current version, 1.D, runs under Windows 95, Windows NT,
or Windows 3.1 with Win32s 32-bit extension.  It's available from
ftp.std.com:/ftp/vendors/mmedia/lview/lviewpro.zip.  Shareware, $30.
An older version that can run under vanilla Windows 3.1 is
ftp.simtel.net:/pub/simtelnet/win3/graphics/lviewp1b.zip.

VuePrint is a widely used viewer and printer for JPEG, GIF, BMP, and
other formats.  Shareware, $40.  Version 5.0 is available from
http://www.hamrick.com/.

ThumbsPlus is an image browser and cataloger that handles many file formats.
It can also do some editing and format conversion, but indexing a large
image collection is what it's really aimed at.  Current version is 3.0c, at
ftp.cerious.com:/pub/cerious/thmpls32.exe.  Shareware, $70.  Requires
Windows 95 or NT, or Windows 3.1 with Win32s.

Another good viewer/browser/indexer is CompuPic, available from
ftp.photodex.com:/cpic32.exe (Windows 95, NT, or 3.1+Win32s) or
ftp.photodex.com:/cpic.exe (Windows 3.1).  Shareware, $40.

Many people like Paint Shop Pro.  It's overkill as just a JPEG viewer
(especially since image quality is not very good on 8-bit displays), but
as an image editor and manipulator it is very strong.  Current version is
4.1 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0; an older version is still available
for Windows 3.1.  Available from http://www.jasc.com.  Shareware, $69.

WinJPEG displays and converts JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, and other file formats.
It has some other nifty features including screen capture, color-balance
adjustment, and slideshow.  Shareware, $25.  The current version is 2.76,
available from ftp.coast.net:/SimTel/win3/graphics/winjp276.zip.  (This is a
286-compatible version; if you register, you'll get the 386-and-up version,
which is roughly twice as fast.)

WinECJ is a fast, no-frills viewer with image quality noticeably worse than
most other JPEG viewers.  (You can purchase a version with better image
quality for AUD$30.)  Version 1.2 is free and available from
ftp.coast.net:/SimTel/win3/graphics/winecj12.zip.  Requires Windows 3.1 and
256-or-more-colors mode.

QPV and DVPEG (see previous section) work under Windows, but only in
full-screen mode, not in a window.  Also note that you can run the DOS
conversion programs described earlier inside a Windows DOS window.

Photoshop 4.0 supports progressive JPEG.  If you have an older version,
you can get a plugin that enables progressive JPEG loading and saving from
Pegasus, http://www.jpg.com/.  The plugin is free for loading, shareware
($29) for saving.

Other Windows 95 native releases include:
* PolyView.  Reads JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, Photo-CD.  Current version is 2.21,
  available from ftp.winsite.com:/pub/pc/win95/desktop/polyv221.zip.
  Shareware, $20.

Other popular Windows NT-only viewers include:
* NTj.  Reads JPEG, GIF, and BMP.  Available from
  ftp.digital.com:/pub/DEC/NTj/NTj-x86.exe (or NTj.exe for the DEC Alpha
  version).  Freeware.
* PolyView.  Reads JPEG, GIF, BMP, Photo-CD.  Current version is 1.70,
  available from ftp.winsite.com:/pub/pc/winnt/misc/polyv170.zip.
  Shareware, $20.

TwistedPixel, an OCX component that reads and writes JPEG and other formats
(and also does many other kinds of image manipulations), is available at
http://home.earthlink.net/~bananasoft/TWISTED.HTM.  OCXs are usable by
Visual Basic, Delphi, and other non-C programs.  Shareware, $69.  Requires
Windows 95 or NT.