Cascading Slides

A vacation does not end when you close the door on your home right after you come back. Sure enough you have an abundance of photos on your camera to remind you of both good and bad times. You can easily view them with what Windows puts at your disposal by default, or use advanced and enhanced viewers, such as Cascading Slides.

The application takes little time to install. However, before getting to take it for a spin to see what it's all about, you might want to check if your computer is equipped with Java Runtime Environment for proper functionality.

Running it for the first time asks you to specify a folder you generally use to deposit pictures and clips. Default Windows multimedia locations are selected, with options to remove them or add new ones. Sadly, you can only return to this menu by running the application again, with no link from the main window. It's also the only way to manage library content.

The interface is pretty polished, with a transparent look and feel. Visual settings are fully customizable, so you can directly switch to other themes or simply change the color itself and transparency level. Additional options refer to text and the way it appears and whether or not to include specific file details.

You don't get to use any editing features whatsoever, unless you configure them, that is. Accessing the options menu reveals that the application lets you set up quick access links to external editors for videos and images if you consider they need tweaking.

When you're happy with the way it all looks, hitting the spacebar on your keyboard triggers a slideshow of all pictures in your library. Remember to check the timer, with the default value being set to ten seconds.

Moreover, you can bring the view on the whole screen and just enjoy. Captions help you add messages or descriptions. What's missing are transitions, with a simple fade in/out being all to it and no option to change or add.

In conclusion, Cascading Slides promises just a little more that it has to offer. Practicality is not completely lost in development, but some tweaks are more than helpful, with significant resources used for a simple viewer and not even a few different transitions. On the other way, its a quick and fun way to relax viewing past memories.