I really love XnView. I come from ACD See 5, which is a very, very user-friendly app, that unfortunately does not run well under Win7. I love some features in XnView better, some less. I would love to help a bit with development of MP version and I have noted features that are IMHO worthy reconsidering. Since there are differences between XnView, MP and probably the latest MP version, not all of these suggestions may apply. Hope it does not offend anyone. I took great care to explain my points. Unfortunately i don't think i will be able to devote more time to writing this so i am posting it as it is hoping it may help for a great app. And a p.m. for the MP programmers - I know very well it is always easy to write notes
PH
Toolbars and buttons availability:
Not every button is available for every toolbar. Some buttons are only available on pulldown menu (e.g. Small toolbar/View As menu). Small toolbar is not configurable at all.
This approach is not good for several reasons:
1. It limits the customization available to a user. This is always bad, because nobody can predict all the crazy ways in which users use the software. The needs are way too varied to predict them all. By preventing some customization, you limit the usability of your software. An example: I switch between Thumbnail and details view all the time. Placing these two buttons on a toolbar in ACDSee 5 saved me tons of time and it was very pleasing to my work flow. Who would have guessed? With XnView I need to hit the tiny button View As to get to the button to switch the view. Unnecessarily unpleasant, annoying, cumbersome.
2. It takes the developer's time devoted to trying to predict user's needs.
Solution: allow any, absolutely any function to be available as a button for any, any toolbar. This gives you a general, unified approach that streamlines your programming and UI design and while making it this easier on you as a developer, it also gives much sought after freedom to the user. It's a win-win situation.
Scanning
When you scan a document, a browser opens with the scanned image. The image is not saved anywhere at this point. The user must save it by hand or it will be overwritten with the next scan (prompt to save the changes to be exact). This way it is very slow to scan and save any larger number of documents. It is safe to say that scanning more than one document this way is unpleasant because of the unnecessary step of manual saving. I would go as far as calling it unusable (sorry for being so harsh).
Solution: the saved image is automatically saved into an active folder with a default name (user defined or composed of date+time of the scan). This way it is much faster and more pleasant for the user to scan any number of documents - and frankly, who saves only one document these days?
"Batch Rename" window
level: annoyance, improvement
The custom name entered in "Name template" window is remembered for the next session (even app restart). This may be very useful in some specific cases, but I presume majority of user won't use the same syntax over and over again. When a new Rename batch is started, the old custom name syntax is in the way and must be deleted before proceeding.
Suggestion: Custom template not remembered once the window closes.
2 Pages side by side
Suggesting for a sweet new feature not found anywhere else (IMHO). Display 2 consecutive images side by side like word's and adobe reader's Two Page view. This would be great for scanned documents composed of several images and for many - for reading comics, I guess.
Archives
Archives such as .zip and .rar must be unzipped to be browsed.
Suggested solution: allow browsing common archives just as normal folders. (easy to say for me, right? I know)
Converting images
when displaying an image (LMB image in the browser takes you to the display image window) the Batch Convert function does not work. Using this function opens the Batch Convert window with no image selected in the Input box. The user can manually add the image displayed using the Add button, but that is cumbersome and tedious.
The solution: the image displayed is automatically added to the Input box just like in the browser window, where the image selected is automatically added to the Input box of the Bathc Convert window when the Batch Convert is activated there.
Folder Tree
Folders in the folder tree cannot be moved with LMB like in Windows Explorer. It is confusing, because the look of the folder tree is identical to the folder tree of Windows Explorer and thus suggests the same functionality, which is incidentally very useful.
Solution: use the Windows Explorer functionality in Folder Tree.
Folder MOVE TO
When a folder is moved with the MOVE TO function, the app selects the previous folder. This is logical when the moved folder is the last on the list, but very confusing if it is not. Again, this is a difference to Windows Explorer, brings no good and makes work only confusing.
Solution: select the next folder unless at the bottom of the list.
Toolbar-Command menu
Options/Interface/Toolbar/Buttons/Command pull down menu: commands are not listed in alphabetical order, which makes it very difficult to find what one is looking for.
Solution: list the available commands in alphabetical order.
Backspace
Backspace key should move up one level in the folder tree. It is present in the previous xnView, so it is likely coming back.