Comparison between Salamander versions:
Open Salamander 5.0 Samandarin 0.14
Open Salamander 5.0
Servant Salamander 1.52
Rows with lighter background color are Samandarin's additional capabilities compared to Open Salamander 5.0 or Altap Salamander 4.0.
⬤ supported;
⭘ supported with a condition or explanatory note;
– unavailable or unsupported.
UI = Unpack Internally, PI = Pack Internally, UE = Unpack Externally, PE = Pack Externally.
| Features | Version 5.0-Samandarin-0.14 | Version 5.0 | Version 4.0 | Version 2.54 | Version 1.52 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Released | July 2026 | Unreleased | June 2019 | September 2010 | May 1998 |
| License | Open source (GNU GPL v2.0) | Open source (GNU GPL v2.0) | Freeware | Commercial | Freeware |
| 64-bit / ARM64 / 32-bit version (x64 / ARM64 / x86) ⬤ Official binaries are released. ⭘ No binaries are released, but it can be built from source. |
⬤ / ⭘ / ⭘ | ⭘ / – / ⭘ | ⬤ / – / ⬤ | – / – / ⬤ | – / – / ⬤ |
| Guaranteed system compatibility and support | Windows 10 (x64), Windows 11 (x64) | Unreleased | Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 | Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Vista | Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP |
| High DPI display support | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Per-window and Per-monitor DPI-aware dialogs, controls, icons and panels | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Progress bars in Windows 7+ taskbar buttons | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Hot paths in Windows 7+ jump list | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Download size | 16.1 MB | Unreleased | 7.4 MB | 7 MB | 0.2 MB |
| Unicode file names, including emoji and non-system code pages | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Windows extended-length local and UNC paths (up to about 32,767 characters) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Windows Dark Mode across the application and participating plug-ins | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Digitally signed binaries (.exe, .dll, plugins, etc.) and installer | ⬤ | Unreleased | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Cloud Storage Services support | |||||
| Dropbox | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Google Drive | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Microsoft OneDrive | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Improved files copy routine | |||||
| Fast asynchronous algorithm for copying from/to network | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Verifying of copied part of file during resume | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Option to copy link target or just create empty directory | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Option remove ADS from copied files and directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Optimizations for slow VPN networks | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Copy and move between plug-in file systems and archives | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Bulk copy to all selected target folders (Shift+F5) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Integrated Viewers | |||||
| Internal viewer: Text / HEX (binary) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Internal viewer: Unicode encodings | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Internal viewer: line/column and selected characters/lines status | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Internal viewer: zoom and optional line numbers | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Prism text viewer with syntax highlighting for text, configuration and source formats Visually stays consistent with the Internal viewer. | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| PictView (PVW32.DLL): GIF, JPG, over 40 bitmap formats | – | – | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| PictView (WIC): Windows Imaging Component (WIC) compatible file formats support Gaps in Current PictView formats support due to unavailable PVW32.DLL and WIC codecs are described in this document. | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Multimedia: MP3, 5 audio formats | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Database viewer: DBF, CSV, 8 database formats Samandarin provides additional support for JSONL format. | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| JSON viewer Written in C# .NET, provides tree view on JSON file with search functionality. | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Internet Explorer viewer: HTML, XML | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| WebView2 Render viewer: HTML, Markdown, SVG, WebP/AVIF/APNG, raster images and PDF | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Portable executable viewer: EXE, DLL | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Archives Support: Unpack / Pack, Internal / External (requires third party software) | |||||
| ZIP | UI / PI | UI / PI | UI / PI | UI / PI | – |
| RAR | UI / PE | – | UI / PE | UI / PE | – |
| RAR (WinRAR) 5.0 | UI / PE | – | UI / PE | – | – |
| ARJ | UI / PE | UI / PE | UI / PE | UI / PE | – |
| CAB | UI | UI | UI | UI | – |
| PAK (Quake PAK) | UI | UI | UI | UI | – |
| LZH, LHA, LZS | UI / PE | UI / PE | UI / PE | UI / PE | – |
| JAR archives | UE / PE | UE / PE | UE / PE | UE / PE | – |
| UC2 | UE / PE | UE / PE | UE / PE | UE / PE | – |
| TAR, TGZ, GZ | UI | UI | UI | UI | – |
| TAZ, TBZ, BZ, BZ2, Z, RPM, DEB, CPIO | UI | UI | UI | UI | – |
| EML, B64, UUE, XXE, HQX, NTX | UI | UI | UI | UI | – |
| ISO, NRG, BIN, IMG, PDI, CDI, CIF, NCD, C2D (CD/DVD images) | UI | UI | UI | UI | – |
| 7Z (7-Zip archives) | UI / PI | UI / PI | UI / PI | UI / PI | – |
| 7Z (7-Zip archives) 9.22 Beta | – | UI / PI | UI / PI | – | – |
| 7Z (7-Zip archives) 26.02: updated engine with additional formats support | UI / PI | – | – | – | – |
| IMA (FAT disk images) | UI | UI | UI | UI | – |
| Create Self-Extract archives | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Automatic search for external archivers | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| View / Edit files in archives | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Basic Commands | |||||
| Rename, View, Edit, Copy, Move, Delete | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Create Directory | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Hot paths count | 30 | 30 | 30 | 10 | 10 |
| Compare directories | By content | By content | By content | By content | ⬤ |
| Connect / Disconnect network drives | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| New command (folder, shortcut, document) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Archives Pack / Unpack | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Email files | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Path autocomplete in Copy, Move, Quick Rename, Create Directory and Change Directory dialogs | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Extended Delete confirmation with a table of selected file names | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Advanced Commands | |||||
| Change case | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Change attributes, date, and time | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Drive information | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Calculate occupied space | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| User menu | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| User menu: reading icons in separate thread | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Open Windows folders | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Open Command Shell | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| NTFS Compress / NTFS Uncompress | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| NTFS Encrypt / NTFS Decrypt | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Make list of files and directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| List of opened files | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| List of working directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Display directory sizes in panel | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Convert files (EOLs, character sets) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| List of shared directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Go to shortcut target | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Configurable command-shell application and command line | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Direct access to additional Windows user folders | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Plugins | |||||
| Automatic check for updates | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Automatic plugin/extension update installation (including dependencies) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| FTP Client | ⬤ | – | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| FTP Client: contains OpenSSL library | ⬤ | – | ⬤ | – | – |
| FTP Client: SSL session reuse supported | ⬤ | – | ⬤ | – | – |
| WinSCP: SSH, SCP, and SFTP Client | – | – | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| WinSCP: faster upload speed | – | – | ⬤ | – | – |
| SFTP/SCP file-system plug-in with automatic SCP fallback | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| SFTP: password, private-key/PPK and keyboard-interactive authentication | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| SFTP: known_hosts verification, modern OpenSSL crypto, resume, remote edit and chmod | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| File comparator (show differences) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Undelete files on NTFS and FAT | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Checksum: Create / Verify SVF / MD5 checksums | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Checksum: support for SHA-512 | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Split / Combine files | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Batch rename of files and directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Registry editor, find in Registry | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Encrypt / Decrypt: AES, Blowfish, 3DES | – | – | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Windows Mobile access from panels | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Automation of common task using scripts | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Network browser | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| DiskMap graphically displays disk usage | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Hyper-V panel and VHD/VHDX create, attach and detach commands | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Windows Service Explorer | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Windows Portable Devices | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| DiskDir - Create catalogs in Total Commander compatible format (includes recursive listing for Make File List capability) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Salamatrix extension platform with versioned host services and capability declarations | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Declarative extension packages: commands, context-menu entries, toolbars, viewers and panel file systems | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Runtime-provided file systems with typed columns, refresh, custom actions and localization ⭘ Experimental, under development | ⭘ | – | – | – | – |
| Salamatrix native dialog, picker, progress, notification, storage, clipboard and event APIs for extensions ⭘ Experimental, under development | ⭘ | – | – | – | – |
| Local AI provider support (Ollama or OpenAI-compatible endpoint) and optional bundled local Llama runtime ⭘ Experimental, under development | ⭘ | – | – | – | – |
| File Lock Inspector: locate and terminate processes locking a selected file | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Git Worktree Navigator: browse, open, create, remove worktrees and commit | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Interactive Extension Menu Builder | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Process Explorer panel: process list, process tree termination, file location and properties ⭘ Experimental, under development | ⭘ | – | – | – | – |
| Hardware Monitor panel: hardware, sensors, utilization and Device Manager actions ⭘ Experimental, under development | ⭘ | – | – | – | – |
| Windows Event Viewer panel with event properties and XML details ⭘ Experimental, under development | ⭘ | – | – | – | – |
| Icons & Thumbnails | |||||
| Reading icons in separate thread | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Reading thumbnails in separate thread | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Reading visible icons & thumbnails first | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for XP alpha blended icons | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for overlay icons (Tortoise) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Simple icons option for higher speed | Selective | Selective | Selective | Selective | ⬤ |
| Supported icon size (in pixels) | 16x16, 32x32, 48x48 | 16x16, 32x32, 48x48 | 16x16, 32x32, 48x48 | 16x16, 32x32, 48x48 | 16x16 |
| Operations | |||||
| Background operations | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Bulk copy to all selected target folders (Shift+F5) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Display transfer speed, time estimation | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to limit transfer speed | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to Pause / Resume operations | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to overwrite older and skip other files | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to process files in queue | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to copy NTFS security permissions | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to filter files by name mask | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to filter files by attributes, size, time | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Two progress bars: Total and File | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Options: Skip [All], Overwrite [All] | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Robust error states handling, Retry option | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| User Interface | |||||
| Drag-and-drop from / to disks | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Drag-and-drop from / to archives | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Keyboard shortcuts for most of commands | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Colors and panel font configuration | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | Font only |
| UI and menu fonts configuration | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Command line | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Context menus for files and directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Context menus for user interface | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Always on top option | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to minimize into tray | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Context help | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Adjustable menu to user skill level | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for Windows XP visual themes | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Display current path in window caption | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for Fast User Switching | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support Terminal Services (Remote Desktop) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Detached left and right sides in independent windows (full window with toolbars) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Toolbars | |||||
| Top toolbar | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Bottom toolbar | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| User menu bar | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Middle toolbar | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Hot paths bar | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Plugins bar | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Extensions bar | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Option to lock toolbars | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Different icons for dark mode scheme | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Panels | |||||
| Display modes Thumbnails, Icons, Tiles | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Display modes Brief, Detailed (count of customizable Detailed mode presets) | ⬤ (6+) | ⬤ (6) | ⬤ (6) | ⬤ (6) | ⬤ (1) |
| Quick Search through displayed items | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Automatic column widths | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Information Line, Directory Line | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Header Line for sorting and columns widths | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Path shortening by mouse in directory line | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Ellipses in truncated texts | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Selecting using mouse drag | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Special colors by wildcard and attributes | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option: Full row select | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option: Single-click to open item | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Swap panels command | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Option to filter names using wildcard | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Option to display Size column in KB | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Zoom command to maximize panel | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Tabbed panels, including mouse-wheel tab scrolling and right-button tab switching | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Detachable tabs in independent windows (simple window) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Docked or floating Tree View for the active disk panel | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Windows Explorer columns in Detailed view | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Panel item information tooltips with file-type metadata | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Lock/Unlock tab and its panel (keep the tab and panel location unchanged) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Find | |||||
| Find files and directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Find by time, size, attributes, content | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Find operations in background | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Find duplicated files | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Refine or append found items | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Ignore Directory List for skipping directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Regular expressions | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Save Find criteria for future | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Sorting Options | |||||
| Sort by name, extension, time, size | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Sort in both directions | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Respect regional settings | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Use numerical sort for numbers in names | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Sorting with respect to Unicode characters | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Clipboard Commands | |||||
| Clipboard Copy, Cut, Paste, Paste Shortcut | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Paste: go to directory | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Paste: go to directory and focus file | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Copy path + name as text | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Copy name as text | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Copy path as text | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Copy UNC path + name as text | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Selection Commands | |||||
| Select / Unselect using wildcards | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Select / Unselect all | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Invert selection | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Save / Load selected names | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Restore selection | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Advanced selection operations | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Integration With Windows Shell And File System | |||||
| Support for deleting to Recycle Bin | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Support for UNC paths (\\server\share) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Volumes mounted in NTFS folders | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Files and directories changes detection | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Environment variables change detection | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Change of file associations detection | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for removable disks disconnection | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Calculate the occupied space ⬤ Include/Exclude folder links and mounted volumes. ⭘ Folder links and mounted volumes always included. | ⬤ | ⭘ | ⭘ | ⭘ | – |
| Multiple monitors support | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Alternate data streams (ADS) support | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Allocate whole file size before operation | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Access to Sysnative directory (64-bit Windows) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Access to File System Redirector exempted directories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for Windows Policies (restrictions) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for files over 4GB | Full | Full | Full | Full | Basic |
| History | |||||
| Command line history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Find options history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Select / Unselect history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Go to directory history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Copy / Move history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Edit New history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Quick Rename history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Create Directory history | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Privacy options to clear histories | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Shared or separate history for the panels and tabs | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Persistent folder history (list forward and backward after restart) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Keep panel location after restart even for plugins and extensions | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Security | |||||
| Password Manager with strong AES-256 cypher | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| FTP and WinSCP* clients can store password safely ⭘ *WinSCP is not available in version 5.0 | ⭘* | ⭘* | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Support for TLS FTP (FTPS or FTPES with AUTH TLS) | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Extensibility | |||||
| Automation plugin L1: Simple scripts in JScript, VBScript | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Salamatrix SDK and host-independent dialog contract L2: Advanced scripts and extensions in Lua, Python, PowerShell, Node.js and PHP | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Salamander SDK compatibility L3: Fully integrated plugins in native C++ or managed C# | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Salamander SDK release ⬤ official SDK available ⭘ non-official SDK available * for full compatibility and capabilities, it's recommended to use full application source code | ⭘* | ⭘ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Salamatrix Studio Visual Studio Code add-on: dialog builder with native preview host, menu builder and manifest editor | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Configuration | |||||
| Configurability | Advanced | High | High | High | Moderate |
| Configuration stored in Registry | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Portable file-based configuration storage | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Suppressible confirmation count | 26 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 0 |
| Import / export configuration | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Configuration manager and restore wizard | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Language Translations | |||||
| English | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Czech | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Dutch | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | ⬤ |
| French | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| German | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Hungarian | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Italian ⭘ In Samandarin, the stubs are ready for translation to Italian. | ⭘ | – | – | – | ⬤ |
| Romanian | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Russian | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Simplified Chinese | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Slovak | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – | – |
| Spanish | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Manual translation ⭘ Only corrections are made manually for Samandarin. | ⭘ | Unreleased | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| AI-assisted translation workflow | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Setup | |||||
| Installable beside other versions | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ |
| Install / Uninstall | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Transfer (import) old configuration | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Unattended (quiet) installation | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | ⬤ | – |
| Portable installation (no Registry entries) | ⬤ | – | – | – | – |
| Internals | |||||
| Created in | MS Visual C++ 2022 / C# 10.0 (.NET 4.8.2/8.0) | MS Visual C++ 2019 | MS Visual C++ 2019 | MS Visual C++ 6.0 | Watcom C++ 11 |
| Essential utilities | Git, Codex | Mercurial SCM | Mercurial SCM | CVS | – |
| Source code lines | See source-code growth report | 674,000 | 674,000 | 656,000 | 42,000 |
| Source code size | See source-code growth report | 22.3 MB | 22.3 MB | 21.6 MB | 1.27 MB |
| Open plugins architecture (C/C++ interface) | Advanced | Advanced | Advanced | Advanced | No |
| Open extensions architecture (different language runtimes) | Lua, PowerShell, Python, Node.js, PHP | No | No | No | No |
| Number of plugins | 33+ native plug-ins and Salamatrix providers/extensions | 29 | 34 | 35 | 0 |
| Bug reporting system | Advanced + GitHub Issues | Advanced | Advanced | Standard | No |
Supported formats and plug-in sources
The following tables reproduce the format tables that appear below the historical comparison table and extend them with formats and sources supported by Samandarin plug-ins and extensions. Entries marked “Samandarin addition” were not present in the 4.0 comparison.
PictView Viewer: WIC-decoded image formats
PictView queries the local Windows Imaging Component (WIC) decoder inventory at start-up. The detected extensions are used for both viewing and thumbnails, so installed WIC codecs are supported without a hard-coded extension list.
| Extension | Format description |
|---|---|
| All extensions advertised by installed WIC decoders | Samandarin addition: PictView enumerates IWICBitmapDecoderInfo::GetFileExtensions at start-up and updates viewer and thumbnail registrations from that system inventory. |
| BMP, DIB, RLE | Windows Bitmap, through the built-in WIC BMP decoder. |
| GIF | Graphics Interchange Format, including animation frames exposed by WIC. |
| ICO | Windows Icon, through the built-in WIC icon decoder. |
| JPG, JPE, JPEG, JFIF | JPEG / JFIF, through the built-in WIC JPEG decoder. |
| PNG | Portable Network Graphics, through the built-in WIC PNG decoder. |
| TIF, TIFF | Tagged Image File Format, through the built-in WIC TIFF decoder. |
| JXR, WDP | JPEG XR / HD Photo (Windows Media Photo), through the built-in WIC codec. |
| DDS | DirectDraw Surface variants accepted by the WIC DDS decoder. |
| WebP, HEIF/HEIC, DNG/RAW and other optional image formats | Available when their WIC codec is installed on the local Windows system; their extensions are discovered automatically and are not treated as universal support. |
Multimedia Viewer: supported audio formats
| Extension | Format description |
|---|---|
| MP3, MP2 | MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 audio files, layer I, II and III; ID3 tag versions 1 and 2 |
| OGG | Ogg Vorbis audio files |
| WMA | Windows Media Audio |
| WAV | Microsoft sound format |
| VQF, 669, IT, MOD, MTM, S3M, STM, XM | Tracker modules |
Database Viewer: supported database formats
| Extension | Format description |
|---|---|
| DBF | dBase II, III, IV, V, Visual dBase 7 and FoxPRO |
| CSV | Comma-separated values |
| TXT | Tab-delimited text |
Checksum: supported hash algorithms
| Algorithm | Description |
|---|---|
| CRC | Cyclic Redundancy Check stored in SFV checksum files |
| MD5 | Message-Digest algorithm 5 |
| SHA1 | Secure Hash Algorithm SHA-1 |
| SHA256 | Secure Hash Algorithm SHA-256 (SHA-2 family) |
Supported archive formats
| Extension | Format description | Plug-in |
|---|---|---|
| 7Z | 7-Zip | 7zip |
| ZIP | ZIP | ZIP |
| ARJ | ARJ | UnARJ |
| CAB | Microsoft Cabinet | UnCAB |
| B64, EML, HQX, NTX, UUE, XXE | MIME, e-mail, Binhex, yEnc and UU/XX encodings | UnMIME |
| PAK | Quake PAK files | UnPAK |
| IMA | FAT 12, 16 and 32 disk images | UnFAT |
| RAR | RAR | UnRAR |
| LZH, LHA, LZS | LHArc compressed archives | UnLHA |
| TAR, GZ, TGZ, BZ2, BZ, TBZ, Z, TAZ, CPIO, RPM, DEB | GNU tar, gzip, bzip, compress and package archive formats | TAR |
| BIN, BWI, C2D, CDI, CIF, IMG, ISO, NCD, NRG, PDI, XBOX | CD/DVD and XBOX image formats | UnISO |
| CHM | Microsoft Help | UnCHM |
| ZIP, 7Z and RAR with Unicode/long paths | Samandarin addition: archive workflows preserve Unicode names and extended paths. | ZIP, 7zip, UnRAR |
| XZ, TXZ, BZIP2, TBZ2, GZIP, TPZ, OVA, Z01, ZIPX, XPI, ODT, ODS, DOCX, XLSX, EPUB | Samandarin addition: modern compressed archives and document/package containers, browsed and extracted by bundled 7-Zip 26.02. | 7zip |
| WIM, SWM, ESD, APM, APFS, AR, A, UDEB, LIB, CRAMFS, DMG, EXT/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4, GPT, HFS/HFSX, IHEX, LZMA, MBR, MSI/MSP, NSIS, NTFS, QCOW/QCOW2/QCOW2C, SQUASHFS, UDF, SCAP, UEFI/UEFIF, VDI, VHD/VHDX, VMDK, XAR | Samandarin addition: operating-system packages, file systems, disk images and virtual-machine images, browsed and extracted by bundled 7-Zip 26.02. | 7zip |
Additional Samandarin viewer file types
| Plug-in | Category | Supported file types |
|---|---|---|
| Prism Text Viewer | Plain text and logs | .txt, .log |
| Prism Text Viewer | Configuration | .ini, .cfg, .conf, .config, .json, .jsonc, .json5, .yaml, .yml |
| Prism Text Viewer | Markup and delimited text | .xml, .html, .htm, .php, .axaml, .xaml, .xlf, .nuspec, .plist, .storyboard, .md, .markdown, .csv |
| Prism Text Viewer | Windows scripting and C-family source | .bat, .cmd, .ps1, .psd1, .psm1, .cs, .cpp, .c, .cxx, .h, .hh, .hpp, .hxx |
| Prism Text Viewer | Project and build files | .csproj, .fsproj, .vbproj, .vcxproj, .vcproj, .props, .targets |
| Prism Text Viewer | Syntax grammars | Hundreds of bundled PrismSharp language identifiers, including ABAP, Bash, C/C++, C#, CSS, Docker, Go, Java, JavaScript, JSON, Kotlin, Lua, Markdown, PHP, PowerShell, Python, Ruby, Rust, SQL, TypeScript, XML and YAML. The complete controlled list is maintained in src/plugins/textviewer/SUPPORTED_FILE_TYPES.md. |
| JSON Viewer .NET | JSON documents | .json, .pc, .jbeam |
| WebView2 Render Viewer | HTML and web archives | .html, .htm, .xhtml, .mhtml, .mht |
| WebView2 Render Viewer | Markdown | .md, .markdown, .mdown, .mkd, .mdx |
| WebView2 Render Viewer | Vector and modern images | .svg, .svgz, .webp, .avif, .apng |
| WebView2 Render Viewer | Raster images and PDF | .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .jfif, .gif, .bmp, .ico, .tif, .tiff, .pdf |
Samandarin extensions: supported sources
| Extension | Supported source / scope |
|---|---|
| Process Explorer | Running Windows processes; actions include end task, end process tree, open file location and properties. |
| Hardware Monitor | CPU, GPU, memory, motherboard, network, storage, sensors and Device Manager; reads hardware information and utilization. |
| Event Viewer | Windows Custom Views, Windows Logs, and Applications and Services Logs; event properties and XML details. |
| File Lock Inspector | Selected files; locates processes which prevent modification, move or deletion. |
| Git Worktree Navigator | Disk folders that contain Git repositories and worktrees. |
| Extension Menu Builder | Interactive creation and editing of menu-driven Salamatrix extensions. |