Windows Photo Viewer is an excellent application for all those who want just that, open pictures without wasting their time.

But IrfanView is great in so many ways that we can hardly name just one. It perfectly replaces the tool bundled into Windows to let you browse photos but it offers a lot more than that.

Installing IrfanView might be a bit difficult because it prompts you to choose the files you want the application to handle, so in case you just wish to use it as your backup solution, be sure to uncheck them all.

Besides the fact that it’s perfect when it comes to opening virtually all formats out there and letting you browse through your photos extremely easy, IrfanView can also do conversion and resize on the go.

We’ve tried the batch features which are absolutely impressive and a pretty complex process that involved around 100 photos took approximately 5 minutes to convert, resize and apply a sharpening effect.

IrfanView has a very, very rich settings menu, which means you could almost change every single option that’s inside, not to mention that it comes with multi-language support for even easier use.

Plus, it lets you do some basic editing functions on your photos but, at the same time, it also supports plugins for what seems to be the greatest functionality in its category.

All things considered, IrfanView is the king, so long live the king. It’s one of the best solutions we’ve ever seen when it comes to handling photos and, probably the most important thing, it’s free for personal use.