| Quick functional comparison | ||
| Compatability | MS RAW Viewer | dpMagic Plus |
| Canon |
Some older Canon cameras are not supported:
PowerShot 600 PowerShot A5 PowerShot A5 Zoom PowerShot A50 PowerShot Pro70 PowerShot Pro90 IS |
Supports all Canon cameras |
| Casio | - | + |
| Contax | - | + |
| Creative | - | + |
| Epson | - | + |
| Fuji | - | + |
| Imacon | - | + |
| Kodak | - | + |
| Konica | - | + |
| Leaf | - | + |
| Leica | - | + |
| Logitech | - | + |
| Minolta | - | + |
| Nikon | + | + |
| NuCore | - | + |
| Olympus | - | + |
| Panasonic | - | + |
| Pentax | - | + |
| Phase One | - | + |
| Rollei | - | + |
| Sigma | - | + |
| Sinar | - | + |
| Sony | - | + |
| Adobe DNG | - | + |
| Windows OS | Windows XP | Windows 2000, XP |
| Windows Shell Integration | ||
| Tooltips | + | + |
| Thumbnails |
+
Quality of images in this mode is not perfect |
+
Provides better thumbnail image quality |
| Columns in Detail View | + | + |
| Properties | + |
+
Provides Histogram and other extra information |
| Viewer | ||
| EXIF info | + | + |
| Histogram | - | + |
| White Balance | Provides better white balance | |
| Other | ||
| Slideshow | + | + |
| Trash/Untrash | - | + |
| Delete | + |
-
We consider the Trash/Untrash function is a safer option |
| + | - | |
| Generate thumbnails from RAW data option | - | + |
| Thumbnail Size adjustment | - | + |
| EXIF Accuracy | Provides better EXIF accuracy | |
| Required .NET framework | Yes | No |
| Price | Free | $9.95 |
| Support | - |
+
Email Support |
Bugs
Microsoft RAW Viewer has a bug that has been reported in the Internet in different forums. After opening a folder with a file that Microsoft RAW Viewer cannot properly recognize, it keeps the file locked and does not allow renaming or deleting the file or folder.
Image Quality
Thumbnails
In our opinion thumbnails are better supported by dpMagic Plus. They have better image quality; they can be configured for different sizes and/or to be generated from RAW data.
Microsoft RAW Viewer
dpMagic Plus
Viewer
It seems that Microsoft RAW Viewer provides better image quality and white balance in full window preview mode. We are working on this issue and our internal dpMagic version already provides much improved quality.
Microsoft RAW Viewer
dpMagic Plus
At the same time dpMagic Plus Viewer provides some extra functionality like Histogram and navigation pane. That can be very important to some users:
Microsoft RAW Viewer
dpMagic Plus
File Properties dialog
Microsoft RAW Viewer doesn't provide any extra support for RAW files in File Properties dialog. dpMagic Plus shows EXIF data and Histogram.
Microsoft RAW Viewer
dpMagic Plus
Configuration dialog
Again, dpMagic Plus provides some extra features, like Thumbnail Size, option to generate thumbnails from RAW data and others.
Microsoft RAW Viewer
dpMagic Plus
dpMagic Plus also allows specifying some options separately for different file types.
Conclusion
While dpMagic and Microsoft RAW Viewer are comparable, we feel that the limited support of Microsoft RAW Viewer to Nikon and Canon cameras and the extra features offered by dpMagic, make our software a better choice.