“Google plans shortly to release a beta version of Picasa for Mac OS X, helping Apple fans catch up to Windows and Linux users already employing the free tool for editing, cataloguing and uploading photos,” Stephen Shankland reports for CNET.
MacDailyNews Take: Catch up? Hardly. We have iPhoto and the rest of iLife. ‘Tis Windows and Linux that need to catch up. As usual.
Shankland continues, “The Mac version largely matches the features in Picasa 3 for Windows, said Jason Cook, Picasa’s marketing manager. Though the company has been scrambling to include some secondary features such as geotagging and the ability to get photos printed, the core abilities of Picasa are present, he said.”
“Synchronisation with the Mac’s bundled iPhoto software is another area where people should tread carefully, though Picasa offers cautionary alerts to try to avert any trouble, Cook said. Picasa for the Mac doesn’t interfere with iPhoto, he said, but for example when a person uses Picasa to edit a photo, iPhoto still shows the original, which Picasa preserves. And Picasa will read ratings and tags from iPhoto, but not vice versa,” Shankland reports.
Shankland reports, “Before the Picasa for Mac was released, Google offered Mac users two other options for getting photos to Picasa Web Albums: an iPhoto plug-in and standalone upload tool.”
Full article here.
Picasa for Macintosh:
Jason Kincaid reports for TechCrunch, “Picasa is a welcome alternative to iPhoto, but it’s still premature to drop iPhoto entirely. It’s highly likely that Apple will unveil a new version of iPhoto at tomorrow’s Macworld keynote, and you can be sure that it will include some significant enhancements.”
Full article here.
Without clean integration with iPhoto, it’s hard to see the reason why I would download it.
i use Picassa’s uploader in tandem with iPhoto to create web albums in full photo quality to share with people. it works great.
i have no reason to switch to Picassa fully though. iPhoto meets most of my needs.
Does the latest version of Picasa support EXPORTING pictures in raw and/or lossless formats. The last time I experimented with Picasa, the program was only able to export to jpeg.
I think you all miss the point. Picasa is a free update from Google, not iPhoto, which you’ll need to pay for an iLife upgrade.
So for small amount of loud whiners that complain about the small upgrade price for iLife, they can use Picasa instead. What a great excuse to shut them up.
available here: http://picasa.google.com/mac/
shut yer yaps and try it out.
I actually find iPhoto odd. And it’s a space hog. maybe I’ll like this more…
@bioness: iLife (including iPhoto) is also included in any Mac, I never paid for an iLife upgrade, they just magically appear after clicking ‘OK’ on the software update…
It’s iWork you pay for, not iLife…
Picasa is great. It doesn’t require importing photos. So, I can have one library, and have all my machines access it, do my editing from any machine, and all the pictures stay in the same place. No need for a seperate copy on every machine. Also, it’s very fast and very intuitive to use. And cross platform, so if I’m forced to use a Windows machine (say for work), no problem. Very nice, especially for the price.
@DD from Belgium: iLife is bundled with all new Macs and is therefore free when you buy a computer. As for updates, only the incremental updates to a version are free. Once Apple releases a new version of iLife, if you want it, you must pay full price for it.
Why oh why is it Intel only…
My clients will be thrilled! Picassa is by far the most missed application for those who have switched to the mac platform. Paint Shop Pro is second. One down, another to go!
Come on Corel – How about a shiny new Paint Shop Pro for the Mac!
Comment from: porksickle
Picasa is great. It doesn’t require importing photos. So, I can have one library, and have all my machines access it, do my editing from any machine, and all the pictures stay in the same place. No need for a seperate copy on every machine. Also, it’s very fast and very intuitive to use. And cross platform, so if I’m forced to use a Windows machine (say for work), no problem. Very nice, especially for the price.
Crossed Platform? Ummm, nope, just for intel macs, windows and linux, what about all those other mac users using G5’s or lower?
See I think google can go take a flying leap! Not because they suck, but that they finally release software that fits them, not the consumer. Do no evil is only in the eyes of the beholder Google and it’s a little to late for some mac users!
“Move along nothing to see here”
Skankland????? Nice name.
This sounds like something I’d try out. I do not like how iphoto decides to make a copy of your original photo and move it to its own location. Same goes for Aperture, I organize all my photos myself in folders categorized in RAW format and jpg. I have quite a bit of drive space so im not worried but I do not like cluttering. Maybe there will be a new iphoto update to resolve this.. who knows.. For most people though the way iphoto handles your photos is perfect cause its all in one location.. for people with my OCD.. not so much
So it wasn’t just me, Picasa was quirky and buggy with OS X.
… Picassa UI is below acceptable Mac OS X standards. Who is the developer of this app again? Is it Joe and Harry in Joe’s parents garage?
@ Close your eyes….
“Is it Joe and Harry in Joe’s parents garage?” Wasn’t Apple started by a couple of guys in a garage?
PS: Can anyone answer the question from my previous post?
David Allison (famous for his blog about switching from Windows to Mac last year) has a first impressions review here:
http://www.davidalison.com/2009/01/first-impressions-picasa-for-mac.html
It seems there are things that Picassa does better than iPhoto. For one, it does not overwrite the original, untouched photo – I’ve never liked that “feature” of iPhoto.
Anyhow, read for one astute person’s opinion.