diff --git a/rtgui/extprog.cc b/rtgui/extprog.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..12b0e8449
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rtgui/extprog.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+/*
+*  This file is part of RawTherapee.
+*
+*  Copyright (c) 2012 Oliver Duis <www.oliverduis.de>
+*
+*  RawTherapee is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+*  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+*  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+*  (at your option) any later version.
+* 
+*  RawTherapee is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+*  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+*  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+*  GNU General Public License for more details.
+*
+*  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+*  along with RawTherapee.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+#include <cstring>
+
+#include "extprog.h"
+#include "multilangmgr.h"
+#include "../rtengine/safegtk.h"
+#ifdef WIN32
+#include <windows.h>
+#include <shlobj.h>
+#endif
+using namespace std;
+
+
+ExtProgAction::ExtProgAction() {}
+
+ExtProgAction::ExtProgAction(const ExtProgAction* other, int target) 
+    : target(target), filePathEXE(other->filePathEXE), preparams(other->preparams), name(other->name) { }
+
+Glib::ustring ExtProgAction::GetFullName() {
+    return name+ " [" + M(Glib::ustring::compose("EXTPROGTARGET_%1", target)) + "]";
+}
+
+bool ExtProgAction::Execute(std::vector<Glib::ustring> fileNames) {
+    if (fileNames.empty()) return false;
+
+    // Check if they all exists (maybe not precessed yet)
+    for (int i=0;i<fileNames.size();i++) {
+        if (!safe_file_test(fileNames[i], Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
+            Gtk::MessageDialog msgd (M("MAIN_MSG_IMAGEUNPROCESSED"), true, Gtk::MESSAGE_ERROR, Gtk::BUTTONS_OK, true);
+            msgd.run ();
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    Glib::ustring cmdLine="\"" + filePathEXE + "\"";
+    if (preparams.length()>0) cmdLine += " " + preparams;
+
+    for (int i=0;i<fileNames.size();i++) cmdLine += " \"" + fileNames[i] + "\"";
+
+    return safe_spawn_command_line_async (cmdLine);
+}
+
+
+// Generates as singleton
+ExtProgStore* ExtProgStore::getInstance()
+{
+    static ExtProgStore* instance_ = 0;
+    if ( instance_ == 0 )
+    {
+        static Glib::Mutex smutex_;
+        Glib::Mutex::Lock lock(smutex_);
+        if ( instance_ == 0 )
+        {
+            instance_ = new ExtProgStore();
+        }
+    }
+    return instance_;
+}
+
+ExtProgStore::~ExtProgStore() {
+    for (list<ExtProgAction*>::iterator it=lActions.begin();it!=lActions.end();it++) delete *it;
+}
+
+// Reads all profiles from the given profiles dir
+void ExtProgStore::init () {
+    Glib::Mutex::Lock lock(mtx);
+
+    lActions.clear();
+
+#ifdef WIN32
+
+    SearchProg("Photoshop", "Adobe\\Adobe Photoshop CS%1 (64 Bit)\\Photoshop.exe", "Adobe\\Adobe Photoshop CS%1\\Photoshop.exe", 9, false, true);
+    SearchProg("Photomatix Pro", "PhotomatixPro%1\\PhotomatixPro.exe", "", 9, true, true);
+    SearchProg("Paint.NET", "Paint.NET\\PaintDotNet.exe", "", 0, false, true);
+    SearchProg("MS Image Composition Editor", "Microsoft Research\\Image Composite Editor\\ICE.exe", "", 0, false, true);
+    SearchProg("PTGui", "PTGui\\PTGui.exe", "", 0, false, true);
+    SearchProg("GeoSetter", "GeoSetter\\GeoSetter.exe", "", 0, true, true);
+    SearchProg("FastStone Image Viewer", "FastStone Image Viewer\\FSViewer.exe", "", 0, true, true);
+    SearchProg("FastPictureViewer", "FastPictureViewer\\FastPictureViewer.exe", "", 0, true, true);
+    if (!SearchProg("Autopano Giga", "Kolor\\Autopano Giga 2.%1\\AutopanoGiga_x64.exe", "Kolor\\Autopano Giga 2.%1\\AutopanoGiga.exe", 15, true, true))
+        SearchProg("Autopano Pro", "Kolor\\Autopano Pro 2.%1\\AutopanoPro_x64.exe", "Kolor\\Autopano Pro 2.%1\\AutopanoPro.exe", 15, true, true);
+
+    // DO NOT add obscure little tools here, only widely used programs with proper setup program to have a standard path
+#else
+    printf("Sorry, external programs are currently only configured on Windows\n");
+#endif
+
+}
+
+bool ExtProgStore::SearchProg(Glib::ustring name, Glib::ustring exePath, Glib::ustring exePath86, int maxVer, bool allowRaw, bool allowQueueProcess) {
+    bool found=false;
+
+#ifdef WIN32
+    // get_user_special_dir crashes on some Windows configurations.
+    // so we use the safe native functions here
+    static Glib::ustring progFilesDir,progFilesDirx86;
+
+    if (progFilesDir.empty()) {
+        WCHAR pathW[MAX_PATH]={0}; char pathA[MAX_PATH];
+
+        // First prio folder (64bit, otherwise 32bit)
+        if (SHGetSpecialFolderPathW(NULL,pathW,CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES,false)) {
+            char pathA[MAX_PATH];
+            WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8,0,pathW,-1,pathA,MAX_PATH,0,0);
+            progFilesDir=Glib::ustring(pathA);
+        } 
+
+        if (SHGetSpecialFolderPathW(NULL,pathW,CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILESX86,false)) {
+            WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8,0,pathW,-1,pathA,MAX_PATH,0,0);
+            progFilesDirx86=Glib::ustring(pathA);
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (exePath86.empty()) exePath86=exePath;
+
+    ExtProgAction *pAct=new ExtProgAction();
+    pAct->name=name;
+    pAct->target= (allowRaw?1:2);
+
+    if (maxVer>0) {
+        for (int verNo=maxVer;verNo>1;verNo--) {
+            pAct->filePathEXE=progFilesDir+"\\"+Glib::ustring::compose(exePath,verNo);
+            if (safe_file_test(pAct->filePathEXE, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) break;
+
+            pAct->filePathEXE=progFilesDirx86+"\\"+Glib::ustring::compose(exePath86,verNo);
+            if (safe_file_test(pAct->filePathEXE, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) break;
+
+            pAct->filePathEXE="";
+        }
+    } else {
+        pAct->filePathEXE=progFilesDir+"\\"+exePath;
+        if (!safe_file_test(pAct->filePathEXE, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) {
+
+            pAct->filePathEXE=progFilesDirx86+"\\"+exePath86;
+            if (!safe_file_test(pAct->filePathEXE, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) pAct->filePathEXE="";
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (pAct->filePathEXE.length()>0){
+        lActions.push_back(pAct);
+
+        // Copy for second target
+        if (allowRaw && allowQueueProcess) lActions.push_back(new ExtProgAction(pAct,2));
+
+        found=true;
+    } else delete pAct;
+#endif
+
+    return found;
+}
diff --git a/rtgui/extprog.h b/rtgui/extprog.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5586c592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rtgui/extprog.h
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+/*
+*  This file is part of RawTherapee.
+*
+*  Copyright (c) 2012 Oliver Duis <www.oliverduis.de>
+*
+*  RawTherapee is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+*  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+*  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+*  (at your option) any later version.
+* 
+*  RawTherapee is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+*  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+*  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+*  GNU General Public License for more details.
+*
+*  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+*  along with RawTherapee.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+
+#ifndef _EXTPROG_
+#define _EXTPROG_
+
+#include <glibmm.h>
+#include <list>
+
+class ExtProgAction {
+public:
+    ExtProgAction();
+    ExtProgAction(const ExtProgAction* other, int target);
+
+    Glib::ustring filePathEXE;
+    Glib::ustring preparams;  // after EXE and before file names
+    Glib::ustring name;  // already localized if necessary
+    int target;  // 1=RAW files, 2=batch converted files
+
+    Glib::ustring GetFullName();  // e.g. "Photoshop (RAW)"
+
+    virtual bool Execute(std::vector<Glib::ustring> fileNames);
+};
+
+// Stores all external programs that could be called by the user
+class ExtProgStore {
+    Glib::Mutex mtx;  // covers actions
+
+    bool SearchProg(Glib::ustring name, Glib::ustring exePath, Glib::ustring exePath86, int maxVer, bool allowRaw, bool allowQueueProcess);
+
+public:
+    ~ExtProgStore();
+
+    void init();  // searches computer for installed standard programs
+    static ExtProgStore* getInstance();
+
+    std::list<ExtProgAction*> lActions;
+};
+
+#define extProgStore ExtProgStore::getInstance()
+
+#endif