Glide 4.0

✨ Glide 4.0

A faster, lighter, more polished Glide release for Windows.

🚀 Highlights

• ⚡ Launch Speed Boost — keeps Glide's window, decoder, and file-open broker warm in the background.
• 🧠 Tiny standby footprint — approximately 3–4 MB when the main window is closed.
• 🪟 Windows Snap restored — warm restores preserve edge snapping and Snap Layout behavior.
• 💡 Welcome-page guidance — explains how Launch Speed Boost works.
• 🎨 Existing UI gallery retained — README screenshots remain available for reference.

📦 Downloads

• 🧳 Portable: Glide-4.0-Portable.zip
• 🛠️ Installer: Glide.Setup.exe

Thanks for trying Glide!

Glide 3.56 - Settings Reorganization, Tidy Context Menu, & Explorer Navigation

Glide 3.56 — Settings Split, Context Menu Tidying, and Navigation Polish

What's Changed

• Settings Reorganization:
  • Split settings into two distinct tabs: Viewing & Appearance (viewport presentation, zoom step, subpixel rendering, loading indicators, HUD text overlay templates) and Interface & Behavior (window behavior, caption buttons, folder branch traversal, tab interactions, explorer launch settings).
  • Fixed Settings dialog opening issue caused by duplicate control IDs across panels and added automated unit tests for settings window instantiation.
  • Added 6 new user-configurable settings options (166 validated settings).
• Context Menu Organization:
  • Cleaned up context menu: kept Copy image / selected pixels easily accessible as a top-level action.
  • Consolidated secondary path/file copy actions (Copy image file, Copy full path, Copy file name, Copy folder path, Export selected region) into a tidy Copy other submenu.
  • Added Exit program at the bottom of the menu.
• Explorer Back Navigation:
  • When opening the containing folder from an image, clicking the Explorer toolbar Back button (<) now navigates straight back to the triggering image.
• Title Bar Up Icon:
  • Updated title bar button with a vector Up icon (↑) with high-precision subpixel antialiasing and round line caps to clearly signify navigating up to the containing folder / parent directory.

Download

Use Glide_Setup_3.56_x64.exe or Glide Setup.exe below to install Glide 3.56 on Windows x64.

Glide 3.5.8 — Multi-Format Cold Launch Acceleration & Live Benchmark Tool

Glide 3.5.8 — Multi-Format Cold Launch Acceleration, Visual Tree Startup Deferral & Live Diagnostic Benchmark

🚀 Highlights & Performance Breakthroughs

• Multi-Format Native WIC Preload Expansion:
  • Expanded background pre-decoding on worker threads to natively route JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, WebP, GIF, and ICO via Windows Imaging Component (WIC) in Glide.Native.dll.
  • Cold startup pre-decoding now finishes on worker threads in ~6–9 ms, completely overlapping image decoding with framework bootstrap.
• Visual Tree Startup Deferral:
  • Consolidated 21-button constructor tunnel event handlers into unified routed pointer-event handlers.
  • Deferred secondary chrome (RebuildTitleActionStrip, RefreshDynamicTooltips, ApplyTabUtilityButtonVisibility) to post-first-frame background dispatch on cold image launch (deferSecondaryChrome: isColdImageOpen), eliminating synchronous blocking time before Frame 0 is drawn.
  • In fully published ReadyToRun composite builds, image bitmap is assigned in ~250–270 ms, and first visible composition frame renders on screen in ~350–420 ms!
• Built-in Real-World Multi-Format On-Screen Benchmark:
  • Expanded --measure-launch to automatically test .jpg, .png, .webp, .bmp, .gif, and .tif.
  • Verifies real visible GUI execution (CreateNoWindow = false), checks live native Win32 HWND presence and placement (IsWindowVisible, GetWindowPlacement, GetWindowRect), synchronizes with DWM composition flush (
    eadyEvent), and outputs formatted cold/warm summary tables and phase breakdowns.
• Packaged Releases:
  • Updated build version to 3.5.8 (InformationalVersion: 3.5-8).
  • Installer: Glide Setup.exe with full Windows file association integration.
  • Portable Release: Glide-v3.5.8-win-x64-Portable.zip (self-contained ReadyToRun composite build, zero install or runtime dependencies needed).

Glide 3.5.7 — Cold Launch Acceleration, Security Hardening & Portable Release

Glide 3.5.7 — Cold Launch Acceleration, Security Hardening & Portable Release

🚀 Cold Launch Performance Overhaul

• Zero-Delay Startup Rendering: Eliminated blank startup frame delay by binding pre-decoded WIC bitmaps to the viewport pipeline before Window.Show() executes (TryPrepareEarlyStartupPresentation).
• Hardware V-Sync Synchronization: Integrated DirectComposition with native DWM synchronization, eliminating a former 140ms UI dispatcher priority stall.
• DWM Transition Bypass: Disabled the OS window entrance zoom-in animation (DWMWA_TRANSITIONS_FORCEDISABLED) when launching directly from Windows Explorer, making double-clicking an image feel instantaneous.
• Measured Cold Start: Time to first visible on-screen paint from Explorer cold launch dropped to ~390–410 ms (with bitmap decoding and layout complete in ~173 ms), putting Glide on par with native C++ image viewers like IrfanView.

📦 Brand-New Portable Edition (GitHub Release)

• 100% Standalone & Self-Contained: Available as Glide-v3.5.7-win-x64-Portable.zip. Unzip anywhere and double-click Glide.exe — requires zero installation, zero admin rights, and no .NET runtime pre-installed.
• Zero Registry / AppData Pollution: Automatically runs in portable mode when installed.flag is absent, storing configuration, history, and cache locally within its own folder.
• Native Bridges Included: Bundled with native x64 decoder extensions (Glide.Native.dll) and complete codec definitions.

🛡️ Comprehensive Security Hardening

• SSRF & Scheme Validation: Strict URL validation enforcing http:// and https:// only (disallowing file://, content://, ftp://), backed by IP address validation blocking loopback (127.0.0.0/8, ::1) and RFC 1918 private subnets.
• Decompression Bomb Defenses: Dimension, frame count, and pixel-budget checks performed in ImageHeaderProbe prior to bitmap allocation to prevent DoS attacks.
• Atomic Cache Isolation: Hardened cache keys against directory traversal (../, ..\) and isolated writes to temporary files before atomic promotion.
• Memory & Arithmetic Boundaries: Protected native and managed decoders with integer overflow guards (width * height * 4).

🏷️ Version & Iteration Labeling

• Window title bar now explicitly displays Glide 3.5-7 for easy version identification.
• Version metadata synchronized across assembly metadata, Inno Setup, diagnostics, and build scripts (3.5.7.0 / Glide 3.5-7).

---

📥 Downloads & Verification

Package	File	Architecture	Description
Portable Zip	Glide-v3.5.7-win-x64-Portable.zip	Windows x64	Standalone archive — run directly without setup or dependencies
Installer	Glide-3.5.7-Setup.exe	Windows x64	Standard Windows installer with Explorer file associations

SHA-256 Checksums

45024CE5B57D7845207CEA9542D80AA63E59ABA8B01577E1BCAAEC2AC9562860 *Glide-3.5.7-Setup.exe
C86F78D2D29D50AF1CAA46521E3D6B9ACA39DECFC582925200B24E8B4926F809 *Glide-v3.5.7-win-x64-Portable.zip

Glide 3.52 - Fast, Lightweight, Multi-Tabbed & Highly Customizable

Glide 3.52 — Window Placement & Minimized State Improvements

What's Changed

• Pre-Minimized Window Position & State Memory: Window coordinates, dimensions, and state (Maximized vs Normal) are now saved and remembered prior to minimization.
• Un-minimize on External Launch: Launching new images or running a new instance while Glide is minimized now properly restores the window from minimized mode to its previous active position and state, rather than opening or remaining in minimized mode.
• Child Instance Geometry: Newly spawned child instances and independent duplicate windows accurately inherit the pre-minimized geometry and state.

Download

Use Glide_Setup_3.52_x64.exe or Glide Setup.exe below to install Glide 3.52 on Windows x64.

License: MIT.

Glide 3.51 - Fast, Lightweight, Multi-Tabbed & Highly Customizable

Glide 3.51 — Major rewrite from legacy Glide 1.2.124

Glide 3.51 is a major evolution of the legacy Glide codebase previously published on GitHub. The focus is the same — a fast, lightweight and highly configurable Windows image viewer — but the application architecture, startup path, workspace model, interaction system and diagnostics have been substantially rebuilt.

Headline changes since Glide 1.2.124

• Option to disable Tab-key button navigation: Tab and Shift+Tab keyboard focus traversal across toolbar/chrome buttons is now disabled by default, with a toggle under Settings > Viewing & Interface to re-enable it whenever desired.
• Much faster startup and first-image presentation with a single real-window startup path, deferred non-critical initialization, optimized first-frame work and reduced startup contention.
• Multi-tab and multi-window workspace with tab duplication, reordering, tear-off, independent windows and session duplication.
• Deep customization across viewing, mouse behavior, fullscreen, overlays, status bar, slideshow, tabs, hotkeys, profiles and Windows integration.
• Overlay / Window-in-Window workflows with opacity and zoom controls, always-on-top, transparent backgrounds, PNG alpha support, configurable interaction behavior and edge-aware chrome.
• Responsive window chrome and tabs designed to remain usable at narrow widths while preserving the standard Minimize / Maximize / Close controls.
• Configurable fullscreen exit behavior including exact restoration of pre-fullscreen size/location, maximize or minimize.
• Configurable duplicate-image behavior when opening an image from Explorer that is already open: new instance by default, refresh existing image, or open new tab.
• Configurable left- and right-drag policies for image panning, selection and window movement, including safe behavior in maximized/fullscreen states.
• More visible folder-boundary feedback so start/end-of-directory navigation is harder to miss.
• Status bar redesign with persistent hide/show behavior, optional hover reveal and responsive multi-row wrapping at narrow widths.
• Profiles/presets and searchable settings for quickly switching between different interaction styles.
• Performance controls for caching, prefetch, progressive/refined rendering and navigation behavior.
• Broad format routing: 196 recognized/routed filename extensions through layered native, WIC, provider and Shell handling.
• Expanded diagnostics and benchmark tooling for startup, rendering, navigation, resize, codec routing and visual regression testing.
• Modern DPI/rendering behavior and substantial fixes to resize, pointer capture, window state and multi-monitor handling.
• Small installer footprint: approximately 14 MB despite the expanded feature set.

Image-format support

Glide 3.51 recognizes/routes 196 image/document-related filename extensions. Core fast-path formats include common JPEG-family, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP and ICO files, with additional support routed through bundled/native codecs, Windows Imaging Component, compatible providers and Shell preview/thumbnail infrastructure where appropriate.

The 196-extension figure describes Glide's routing/recognition contract; it does not imply that every extension has a dedicated built-in decoder.

Notes for existing users

This release represents a major architectural jump from the legacy 1.2.x line. Existing user settings may be normalized or migrated as new options are introduced. If a legacy configuration behaves unexpectedly, reset only the affected setting/profile before reporting a bug.

Download

Use Glide_Setup_3.51_x64.exe below to install Glide 3.51 on Windows x64.

Bug reports and contributions are welcome.

License: MIT.

Glide 3.5 - Fast, Lightweight, Multi-Tabbed & Highly Customizable

Glide 3.5 — Major rewrite from legacy Glide 1.2.124

Glide 3.5 is a major evolution of the legacy Glide codebase previously published on GitHub. The focus is the same — a fast, lightweight and highly configurable Windows image viewer — but the application architecture, startup path, workspace model, interaction system and diagnostics have been substantially rebuilt.

Headline changes since Glide 1.2.124

• Much faster startup and first-image presentation with a single real-window startup path, deferred non-critical initialization, optimized first-frame work and reduced startup contention.
• Multi-tab and multi-window workspace with tab duplication, reordering, tear-off, independent windows and session duplication.
• Deep customization across viewing, mouse behavior, fullscreen, overlays, status bar, slideshow, tabs, hotkeys, profiles and Windows integration.
• Overlay / Window-in-Window workflows with opacity and zoom controls, always-on-top, transparent backgrounds, PNG alpha support, configurable interaction behavior and edge-aware chrome.
• Responsive window chrome and tabs designed to remain usable at narrow widths while preserving the standard Minimize / Maximize / Close controls.
• Configurable fullscreen exit behavior including exact restoration of pre-fullscreen size/location, maximize or minimize.
• Configurable duplicate-image behavior when opening an image from Explorer that is already open: new instance by default, refresh existing image, or open new tab.
• Configurable left- and right-drag policies for image panning, selection and window movement, including safe behavior in maximized/fullscreen states.
• More visible folder-boundary feedback so start/end-of-directory navigation is harder to miss.
• Status bar redesign with persistent hide/show behavior, optional hover reveal and responsive multi-row wrapping at narrow widths.
• Profiles/presets and searchable settings for quickly switching between different interaction styles.
• Performance controls for caching, prefetch, progressive/refined rendering and navigation behavior.
• Broad format routing: 196 recognized/routed filename extensions through layered native, WIC, provider and Shell handling.
• Expanded diagnostics and benchmark tooling for startup, rendering, navigation, resize, codec routing and visual regression testing.
• Modern DPI/rendering behavior and substantial fixes to resize, pointer capture, window state and multi-monitor handling.
• Small installer footprint: approximately 14 MB despite the expanded feature set.

Image-format support

Glide 3.5 recognizes/routes 196 image/document-related filename extensions. Core fast-path formats include common JPEG-family, PNG, GIF, TIFF, BMP and ICO files, with additional support routed through bundled/native codecs, Windows Imaging Component, compatible providers and Shell preview/thumbnail infrastructure where appropriate.

The 196-extension figure describes Glide's routing/recognition contract; it does not imply that every extension has a dedicated built-in decoder.

Notes for existing users

This release represents a major architectural jump from the legacy 1.2.x line. Existing user settings may be normalized or migrated as new options are introduced. If a legacy configuration behaves unexpectedly, reset only the affected setting/profile before reporting a bug.

Download

Use Glide_Setup_3.5_x64.exe below to install Glide 3.5 on Windows x64.

Bug reports and contributions are welcome.

License: MIT.

Glide Alpha 0.12107

Glide Alpha 0.12107

Initial public alpha release of Glide — a lightweight, fast and highly configurable image viewer for Windows.

Glide is designed for people who want more control than a conventional image viewer without turning the application into a heavyweight photo-management suite.

Highlights

• Very fast image opening and rapid folder navigation
• Select-to-zoom — draw a rectangle around an area, then click it to zoom directly into that region
• Drag-friendly window movement from convenient empty areas of the viewer
• Extensive configurable mouse gestures and hotkeys
• Separate controls for windowed, fullscreen, selection and overlay interactions
• Searchable Settings
• Tabbed image and folder/browser workspace
• Tab duplication, restoration, reordering and tear-off
• Fullscreen viewing and configurable slideshow
• Previous/next sibling-folder navigation
• Window-in-Window reference image overlays
• Customizable picture counter/text overlay
• Highly configurable status bar
• Fit, Fit Width, Fit Height and 100% viewing modes
• Predictive prefetching, image caching and rapid-preview/refinement system
• Windows Open With integration
• Portable/native Windows architecture
• Built-in automated diagnostics

Broad image-format support

Glide currently recognizes 196 image-related file extensions using a layered decoding architecture.

Bundled native support includes:

• WebP
• HEIF / HEIC / HIF
• AVIF
• JPEG XL
• JPEG 2000
• OpenEXR
• JPEG / PNG / GIF / TIFF / BMP / ICO and other Windows/WIC formats
• PSD composite, TGA, QOI, PCX, DDS, HDR, Netpbm and several other lightweight formats

Many specialist RAW, design, scientific, medical and microscopy formats can additionally use compatible Windows or application-provided preview/codec handlers.

Why Glide?

Windows already has an image viewer — and for many people, that is enough.

Glide is for the niche where it isn't.

The point is not simply to display a JPEG. It is to make image viewing faster, more direct and dramatically more configurable: select an arbitrary region to zoom into it, customize what practically every mouse gesture does, move naturally between folders, keep multiple images/folders in tabs, use reference overlays, customize the interface, and find obscure options instantly through Settings search.

All while remaining a small, native Windows application rather than a heavyweight photo-management platform.

Alpha notice

This is an alpha release. Bugs and rough edges should be expected.

Notably, some specialist formats depend on compatible Windows/application preview providers, full animated WebP playback is not yet claimed, and tab tear-off/window snapping behaviour continues to be refined.

Bug reports and contributions are welcome.

Open source under the MIT License.

## Glide 1.2.124 — Explorer Home Navigation & Rendering Improvements

Glide 1.2.124 — Explorer Home Navigation & Rendering Improvements

This release continues Glide’s focus on a lightweight, highly customizable image-viewing experience while improving navigation and modern display rendering.

What’s new

• Explorer Home button — A new Home button has been added directly to the Explorer navigation toolbar, providing one-click access back to Glide’s main card-based Home page.
• Improved high-DPI rendering architecture — Significant work has been made to improve rendering on high-resolution and scaled displays, including Per-Monitor V2 DPI handling.
• Sharper UI rendering — Updated DirectWrite/Direct2D handling for clearer interface text and controls.
• Improved image rendering pipeline — Revised DPI metadata, scaling and resampling behaviour to reduce unnecessary softening.
• Better multi-monitor DPI handling — Rendering resources are now recreated appropriately when DPI changes.
• Build verification improvements — The build process now validates that the required DPI-awareness manifest is actually embedded in the executable.
• General rendering and navigation cleanup — Additional internal fixes and groundwork for further visual-quality improvements.

Note

The UI/image sharpness work remains ongoing. This release contains substantial rendering-pipeline improvements, but further refinement is planned as Glide moves toward consistently crisp, pixel-accurate presentation across different Windows scaling configurations.