After years of desperate pleas, rumors, and a basic uploader plug-in, iPhoto finally has a formidable competitor. Right on schedule, today Google announced Picasa 3 for Mac, the first version of the company's rich photo and video organizing software that runs on Mac OS X. Ars Technica spoke with Jason Cook, Product Marketing Manager for Picasa, about the release and just how closely it resembles its Windows counterpart, and took the new software for a spin.
Available for free from Google's Picasa product page, Picasa 3 for Mac is a beta (naturally) that brings Google's unique approach to both photo organization and photo application UI to the Mac (as long as you're on an Intel machine running at least Mac OS X 10.4—sorry PowerPC users). For those familiar with the latest Windows version that we took for a test drive in September, Cook assured Ars that the Mac version 'works very much like Picasa 3 on the PC.' Picasa features many of the basics of photo and video organization, including albums, tags, the ability to create collages and slideshows, editing and touchup tools, and selective importing from many devices, even including an iPhone.
Minor performance improvements in file process and upload in Google Photos Backup. Improve UI in display of failed files in Google Photos Backup. Read the full changelog. Picasa is a clean styled and powerful OS X application designed to provide you with a long list of tools and features that can help. I too am a fan of Google's Picasa. There new Google Photos is a pale comparison to the ease of Picasa. I have switched though to ACDSee for the mac. I used to use it years ago. It's faster than Google Picasa and it's database structure is similar. Also the latest macOS Catalina removed Google's Picasa and other 32-bit apps. A Release Candidate of Picasa for Linux 2.7 (Build 37.3607,0) was released on 21 November 2007. Google added Picasa for Linux 2.7 (Build 37.3615, 0) to its Linux repository on 16 April 2008. Picasa for Mac is under development and will be launched later in 2008. Download picasa mac, picasa mac, picasa mac download free. Picasa is a program developed by Google, Inc. Whose function is to allow the user view and organize the pictures in his/her Mac. Picasa searches for all the images in your HD and shows them on an eye-catching and intuitive interface.
Picasa brings a lot of interestingness to the table, however, and includes the 'same core features' that made its Windows counterpart so popular. Near the top of Mac users' wishlists (especially those fed up with iPhoto and even its $200 cousin, Aperture) is Picasa's ability to watch specified folders for new images. A basic movie editor allows for compatible files to be chopped and spliced together, complete with simple transitions and still photos for interstitial slides.
An appreciated coat of polish for Mac users is that Picasa 3 displays a separate 'iPhoto Library' section in its sidebar, and the default iPhoto Library file (in your user's Home/pictures/folder) is already added to Picasa's watch list. Any changes made in iPhoto will be quickly picked up by Picasa, but iPhoto switchers beware: it doesn't work the other way around. If you aren't sure about making the leap, be sure not to make any changes in Picasa, because iPhoto won't pick them up.
One of Picasa's most interesting features is its strong integration with Google services. Items can be e-mailed using a Gmail account from within Picasa (as well as the system default mail app, like Apple's Mail or Entourage), videos can be uploaded to YouTube, and both photos and videos can be uploaded to Picasa Web Albums, Google's free, feature-full sharing service. An appreciated sharing feature is the ability to automatically sync an album with Picasa Web Albums. Any photos added, deleted, and metadata changes in an album with this feature turned on are automatically synchronized with its web alter ego, much like MobileMe's Gallery feature and integration with iPhoto.
Another unique feature, which we also spent time with in the previously linked test drive, is Picasa's semi-integration with Picasa Web Album's 'Name Tags' feature. The web service offers facial recognition, which naturally integrates with the names stored in one's Gmail account. Picasa for Mac can at least figure out which photos contain people's faces pretty reliably, and a 'Select photos with faces' button makes it easy to send those photos up to the service for proper name tagging.
A video demo of Picasa from Google
We asked Jason Cook about Picasa's journey to the Mac, and he professed that nearly every feature made it over from Windows. A few stragglers, however, didn't make it into this initial beta, including webcam capture, geotagging, and ordering prints. Cook assured us that those features will eventually appear, and while Google won't promise to keep Picasa for Mac in perfect parity with its Windows and Linux brethren, Mac users can look forward to strong support and steady releases in the future.
Another key feature for Windows users didn't make it to the Mac due to Leopard already being on the ball: a system-wide image viewer. Windows users can opt to install a Picasa plug-in for viewing images from anywhere in the file system, but Cook said that Leopard's Quick Look feature negated the need for this on the Mac.
We spent some time with Picasa 3 on the Mac and are so far impressed. The application is stable and never crashed, responsiveness is right up there with (or better than) iPhoto, and the familiar UI from Windows has been faithfully recreated. That said, Google's feared legendary approach to UI may be a bit jarring for Mac OS X usability purists, but it isn't difficult to get used to. Besides missing some of the handy integration with Mac OS X (such as iPhoto's sidebar integration in File Open dialogs and the system-wide Media Browser), Picasa 3 for Mac is a great new option for photo and video organization on the Mac that is truly an alternative to Apple's approach.
Of course, if you're attending Macworld Expo 2009, you can swing by Google's booth, #802, in the South Hall for live demos and more information on Picasa 3 for Mac.
| Developer(s) | |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 3.9 (Build 135.80) / December 15, 2010; 9 years ago |
| Operating system | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X |
| Type | Digital photo organizer |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | picasa.google.com |
Picasa is a software application for organizing and editing photos. It was first created by Idealab but is now owned by Google. 'Picasa' is a blend of the name of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, the phrase mi casa for 'my house', and 'pic' for pictures. In July 2004, Google bought Picasa and began offering Picasa for free download.
There is a version for Windows XP and Windows Vista, as well as a version for Linux. For Windows 98 and Windows Me, only an older version is available. There is also an iPhoto plugin or program for uploading photos available for Mac OS X 10.4 and later.
Other Picasa applications[change | change source]
Picasa Web Albums[change | change source]
Picasa 3 Mac
Picasa Web Albums (PWA) is a photo-sharing web application from Google, similar to websites like Flickr and Zooomr.
It lets users with accounts at Google to store and share 1 GB of photos for free. Users can purchase more storage space, which is shared with other Google services, to a total of:
| Plans: no. of Gigabytes | Cost per Year in US$ | Cost of 1GB per Year in US$ |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 20 | 2.00 |
| 40 | 75 | 1.875 |
| 150 | 250 | 1.667 |
| 400 | 500 | 1.25 |
Users may upload pictures by using either a web interface, through Picasa 2.5.0 or later[1] on Microsoft Windows, using the Exporter for iPhoto, the Aperture to Picasa Web Albums plug-in, or Uploader on Mac OS X,[2] or F-Spot on Linux.
Google Picasa For Mac
No ads are shown on Picasa Web Albums, in either free or paid accounts. The Terms of Service[3] let Google to use the uploaded photos to display on the website or via RSS feeds, and also for promoting Google services without needing to pay the users.
Picasa Web Albums was first announced on June 6, 2006.[4] When introduced, it came with 250 MB free space. On March 7, 2007, it was upgraded to 1 GB.
On February 12, 2016, Google announced [5] that the Picasa desktop application would be discontinued on March 15, 2016. Google stated that the primary reason for retiring Picasa was that it wanted to focus its efforts 'entirely on a single photos service' the cross-platform, web-based Google Photos.[5]
Version history[change | change source]
Windows[change | change source]
There are no versions of Picasa for Windows 95 or NT. The latest version offered for Windows 98/ME is 2.0.0 (build 18.84).[6][7] Newer versions are for Windows 2000/XP/Vista only.
- 1.618 (build 5.35) July 2004 – free download version offered since Google's acquisition of Picasa.
- 2.0.0 (build 18.77) January 18, 2005 – many features including improved search functions, an automated photo collage maker, massively enhanced photo editing functions and further integration with Picasa's Hello and Google's Blogger services.
- 2.0.0 (build 18.84) June 8, 2005 – bug fix release, latest release for Windows 98/ME. This version does not suffer from the 'picasa2runtimehlpsys.dll is not a valid windows image. Check installation disk.' error, which some users have experienced.
- 2.1.0 (build 27.60) September 19, 2005 – new features including international language support, one-click photo blogging, CD cover printing, improved RAW handling and improved support for external drives.
- 2.2.0 (build 28.20) January 30, 2006 – 25 additional languages are supported, new network drive support, and bug fixes for IE7 support and CD Burning.
- 2.5.0 (builds 32.01) June 12 2006 onwards – beta versions including Picasa Web Albums support – last version (build 32.97) started rollout on November 14 2006.
- 2.6 (build 35.94.0) December 7, 2006 – new autoupdate behavior for Windows Vista support, new CD/DVD-burning engine, improved upload reliability to Picasa Web Albums, and added support for 18 new languages.
- 2.7 (build 36.37.0) April 24, 2007 – new RAW processing engine, new color engine for 'tuning' fixes, added support for Google Photos Screensaver, and improved BlogThis! reliability.
- 2.7 Build 36.40 May 3, 2007 – support for more cameras, updated version number for international installs.
- 2.7 Build 36.60 26 June 2007 – added support for geotag, supposedly fixed problems with showing up some video files.
- 2.7 Build 37.23 21 August 2007 – support for more languages, fixes several bugs.
- 2.7 Build 37.29 13 September 2007 – Added support for RAW pictures from the Canon 40D, fixes several bugs.
- 2.7 Build 37.32 2 October 2007 – Fixed a case where corrupted AVI files could cause a crash. Fixed a case that would result in a 'This account is not enabled for Picasa Web Albums' error.
- 2.7 Build 37.36 30 October 2007 – Added support for 11 additional languages: Bulgarian, Catalan, Filipino, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Vietnamese.
- 2.7 Build 37.49 7 March 2008 - Improved performance for new Intel chips. Translation fixes for Hungarian and Chinese. Fixed a case that would result in an error when capturing images from webcams.
- 2.7 Build 37.64 21 August 2008 -
See also the release notes.[8] and the latest updates page[9]
Linux[change | change source]
- As from about early June 2006, Linux versions (2.2.2820-5) became available as free downloads for most distributions of the Linux operating system. It is not a native Linux program but an adapted Windows version that uses the Wine libraries.[10]
- A Release Candidate of Picasa for Linux 2.7 (Build 37.3607,0) was released on 21 November 2007.[11]
- Google added Picasa for Linux 2.7 (Build 37.3615, 0) to its Linux repository on 16 April 2008.
Mac OS X[change | change source]
Picasa for Mac is under development and will be launched later in 2008.[12] A plugin is available for iPhoto to upload to the Picasa Web Albums hosting service. There is also a standalone Picasa Web Albums uploading tools for OS X 10.4 or later. Using Darwine or similar compatibility layers, however, Picasa can run on Mac OS X.
Notes and references[change | change source]
- ↑Picasa Web Albums
- ↑Picasa Web Albums
- ↑Picasa: Terms of Service
- ↑Google Picasa Web Albums Coming?
- ↑ 5.05.1'Picasa Killed off by Google & Moved to Google Photos'. February 12, 2016.
- ↑3.3 MB
- ↑Do you have a version of Picasa for Windows 98 or ME?
- ↑'Picasa 2 Release Notes'. Archived from the original on 2007-07-29. Retrieved 2008-08-31.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- ↑Latest Updates for Picasa
- ↑About Picasa for Linux
- ↑Google-Labs-Picasa-for-Linux
- ↑Google Developing Mac Version Of Picasa, Due To Be Released This Year
Other websites[change | change source]