I’ve been running Windows 10 since the end of 2017 and while it has worked fine most of the time I still get annoyed by the many quirks and bugs that Windows has had over the years even before Windows 10.
One of those issues is the the IME keyboard listing that automatically adds back English US at random times for no good reason, I’ve had that bug since Windows 8 and I want it to just not be a thing anymore. But this post isn’t about this bug.
This post if about the Windows 10 image viewer and how it consistently fails at doing what you would expect from a basic feature such as an image viewer.
Scrolling images through folders doesn’t work
I use the Windows image viewer to browse folder images, it’s integrated into Windows and should be able to handle the kind of files I throw at it such as PNGs, JPEGs and sometimes my CR3 RAWs.
It does need to be perfect when it comes to display images as it is a basic feature of any operating system.
When I open a image from within a folder I usually scroll through the pictures with the mouse wheel. So what’s wrong?
Basically what’s wrong is that if I stop scrolling for a couple of seconds, when I start scrolling the pictures again I’ll be starting back from the picture I first opened in the image viewer.
The image viewer loses track of where it last was. This happens consistently in folders with over 3000 media files…
I’m not the only one
Searching for it brings up a post about the same issue:
The usual response from the Independent Advisor is to reset the apps, then we are told to run DISM and update our system. The Microsoft forums have once again let down the whole world and not one managed to act surprised.
Now I must admit that the wording is not ideal and it also contains another issue that I do not care for. I still want to be able to scroll through my meme collection without going back to the very start and this is kinda forcing me into thinking about what it takes to make a proper image viewer.
I have not done C# in a long time and I think I would enjoy making a lightweight basic image viewer.
IrfanView always works
Back in the early 2000s I came across IrfanView, a graphic viewer that supports many formats and plugins. It’s a very powerful too that can view, convert, batch process and basically save your day when it comes to media files.
It’s a graphic viewer that even plays music! Talk about going above and beyond.
When I open an image I can scroll through the folder’s images with the mouse wheel AND ALSO the previous and next mouse buttons. I could do that on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. How come this isn’t a thing anymore on Windows 10?!
It also can rotate images based on EXIF data and it just works. The only thing I need it an image viewer that just works!
Conclusion
Windows is a total let down when it comes to basic features but the good thing is that for now we can still install third party soft such as IrfanView, MPC-BE, ShareX and many more.
I hope Microsoft won’t kill this anytime soon but they are kinda hinting at taking control over what can be installed with their Microsoft Store, just by letting such an abomination exist.
I trust Microsoft will do what’s wrong for their consumers because we live in the era of SaaS and never ending advertising.
