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maboroshin edited this page Aug 9, 2025 · 17 revisions

Quick View is a variety of computer programs that quickly display files. Historically, it has been described as Quikview without the “C”. This word is prone to spread, so let's trace its origins. The first to omit the “C” appears to be an expansion board for the 1982 Motorola 68000 used for computer typesetting. However, it may be a misprint as it is only confirmed in books. QuikView by QuikTech in 1994 and quikview.exe in the 1995 Windows 95 CD version can be multiple verified.

Quick View 1.0 on Atari ST (1989)

The 1989 journal of The Milwaukee Area Atari Users Group introduced a text display program called Quikview. However, it may be a misprint as it is only confirmed in books. According to Atarimania, The Quick View for Atari released in 1989 was a text viewer. It is probably the same one.

The following is a reproduction of the description screen.

Quick View 1.0
When viewing a file, the cursor keys
can be used to scroll through the
file. Alphanumeric keys are unesed.

F1 - pageb up F3 - top of file
F2 - page down F4 - end of file

Use the ESC key to exit View mode.
Usethe Quick Print accessory to
generate text-only screen dumps.

Dr. Bob's .IMG Quick View on Atari ST (1989)

It is described as “View (mono only) IMG files, very fast.”

QuikView on Apple2000 (1991)

TimeOut-Central is a series of 3.5-inch disks published by Resource-Central. This appears to be a product for TimeOut that runs on AppleWorks. One of these apps for TimeOut is QuikView. However, it may be a misprint as it is only confirmed in books. This opens an AppleWorks word processor file. This is also a text viewer, as the sample includes “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.

  • Peter Stark. "TimeOut-Central", Apple2000, Vol.6 No.5, October 1991, pp.23-24.

Quick View on Windows (1995)

It was included in Windows as a file viewer. ”Quick View" appears in the Explorer right-click menu. In the window title, it was “Quick View” and the file name was without the “C”. %SystemRoot%\system32\Viewers\Quikview.exe Title bar of the Japanese version is “クイック ビューア” (Quick Viewer).

Quick View was introduced in the Windows 95 CD version. (Ref.1) Windows 98 will follow and Windows Me will not be built in. (Q253869) In the NT series, Quick View is available for Windows NT4.0. (Ref.5) And gone before the release of Windows 2000. (Ref.6)

Quick View was provided by Inso. Inso is known for its past development of Outsite In (Ref. 1). Outsite In was renamed simply Quick View Plus. (Ref.2) Thus, within the “About” of Quick View, it is labeled “Outside In Viewer Technology”. Copyright 1991-1994 is noted.

Common files supported by Quick View on Windows 95. Other files that we don't see now are also supported. (Ref.3) It supports about 30 types. Plus supports about 200 types. (Ref.1)

Type Extentions
Document .txt .doc .ppt .rtf .xls
Image .bmp .gif .tiff
Program .exe .dll .inf .ini

When targeting BMP files, the first site's BMPs are readable, but the second site's images are not.

References

  1. Alan Zisman. "Three Programs and a Freebie Enhance Win95", The Computer Palayer, Vol.4 No.12, Decenber 1995, pp.44-47.
    Brian Livingston, Davis Straub. Windows 95 secrets, 1997, p.26.
  2. Inso Corporation Changes Outside In for Windows 3.1 to Quick View Plus® for Windows 3.1 (Inso, September 18, 1995)
  3. omimi 『Windows95 テクニカル・ガイド』1996. via いにしえのクイックビューア (Japanese)
  4. QuickView window on Windows 98 : Tim O'Reilly, Troy Mott, Walter Glenn. "*Windows 98 in a nutshell : a desktop quick reference *", 1999, pp.260-261.
  5. Added quikview.exe (v4.00) on Windows NT 4.0 build 1130 (BetaWiki), Compared to Windows NT 3.51 Server.
  6. Deleted quikview.exe on Windows 2000 (aka NT5.0) build 1969 (BetaWiki), 1999-06-26, this is Windows 2000 beta 3.
  7. "INSO CORPORATION", Hoover's guide to computer companies, 2nd edition, 1996, p.303.

It seems that some users have since ported it to later Windows.

QuickView Plus for Window by InSo (1995)

Inso renamed Outside In to Quick View Plus to match Windows 95. (Above Ref.2) Finally, normal Quick View was removed from Windows in the pre-release beta version of Windows 2000. QuickView Plus was sold by Inso, and Microsoft also explained it.

QuickView is not an installable option for Windows 2000 or Windows Me, and the QuickView command is removed from the context menu on upgrades. All single-user QuickView Plus sales and support is now being handled by JASC Corporation. Inso Corporation continues to handle QuickView Plus for the large corporate customer.

So, normal Quick View was not included in Windows 2000 or Windows Me. And Inso developed the product and JASC was involved in its marketing.

QuikView for Windows by QuikTech AB (1994)

This is a data analysis tool. In 1993, Swedish entrepreneurs founded a software company called Quik-Tech and developed QuikView. QuikView for Windows 1.0 was released in 1994. In 1996, the company name was changed to Qlik-Tech and the software was renamed "QlikView". This was because many software products used the same prefix, making it impossible to register the trademark.

In the book

Quick View

Even with a very simple search, the oldest reference I could find was in a book from 1657. Probably much older. It would not be a particularly recent word.

We will now crosse the Greek Seas to Europe, and take a quick view of most of those Cities, which are of the first magnitude James Howell. "Londinopolis", 1657, p385. Text data

Simply connected QuickView was also used in the 19th century.

QuikView (1982)

Quikview without the letter “C” appears in a 1985 book by John W. Seybold, the father of computer typesetting. It appears to be an expansion board for Motorola 68000 manufactured by Bedford Computer. However, it may be a misprint as it is only confirmed in books.

Bedford Computer Quikview upgrade (of Motorola 68000 power painter board-1982).

日本語化 / Windows-Install / 玄覚.in tool

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