Picasa, Why amature photogs should AVOID Mac.

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I am doing the usual update/spyware scan thing on Moms PC and I decided to toy arround with Picasa, this PC is over three years old, 1.8 GHZ P4, 768 MB ram (from 256) and integraded GPU. and Picasa loads in under 5 seconds, scrols and resizes photos like butter, and has some decent editing tools built in,plays reasonably well with PhotoShop Elements 3, and offers sharing and printing...AND IT IS FREE...



Compare this to Apple and the rediculusly slow iPhoto app that choaks my Mac Mini with 512 meg ram with 200 photos in the library, when picasa has well over 2000... to get true raw aupport and the ability to handle large libraries, one needs to upgrade to Apature, which reqiers the Mac equivilant of the Crey supercomputer to run...and oh yea, I almost forgot, COSTS 500$$$!!!!!!!!!!!



I have talked my mother and sister into buying Macs for their next computers, but as I see how good Picasa is, I question the wisdome of the move, I dont want a brand enw computer to be the same speed o maybe slower! This is why I cannot in good mind recomend an amature photogropher, like my mom buy a Mac!
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 44
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    a_greer





    Let us not focus on an iLife Photo management program as the end all be all of Photo work.



    If you wish to recommend solutions to your friends and family it's prudent to take a more holistic view of the market.



    Look at iView Media Pro and the new Liteshow for options under $250 and geared at photogs.



    Picasa is a nice app but it's still just a management application.
  • Reply 2 of 44
    Why people that are sick of seeing the same threads over and over again should AVOID AppleInsider.
  • Reply 3 of 44
    I agree on Picasa, is very fast and clean. Don´t get me wrong I like iPhoto, is very userfriendly but is slow and freeze a lot and i have an iMac G5!!!!

    Apple should learn from some google apps!
  • Reply 4 of 44
    hmurchison: a_greer said *amateur* photografers which I think is the key word here. I've tried Picasa as well and felt the exact same thing as a_greer did. It's fast even on older computers whereas iPhoto struggles and is slow most of the times. I like iPhoto but let's beat the dead horse and say it again: iPhoto is *slow*. Try Picasa and you'll see.



    I don't need complex apps for my photos. iPhoto does what I need well enough but it needs to be tightened up. Trying Picasa (again on an *old* PC, just as in a_greer's case) convinced me of that for the trillionth time or so.



    [Edit] For the record I have an iBook 1.2 GHz, 768MB RAM.
  • Reply 5 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alberto

    I agree on Picasa, is very fast and clean. Don´t get me wrong I like iPhoto, is very userfriendly but is slow and freeze a lot and i have an iMac G5!!!!

    Apple should learn from some google apps!




    Some as in 1 single Google app? Most 'Google' apps aren't as clean as Picasa. Granted, one of 'em is in private beta but was leaked so it's unfair to judge its appearance but...ya know?
  • Reply 6 of 44
    Google has more apps than you think. Judge Google by what they provide: GMail, Google Search, GTalk, Google Maps, Hello, etc. I don't think any other Google competitor provides a better interface to those apps/services.
  • Reply 7 of 44
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    Google has more apps than you think. Judge Google by what they provide: GMail, Google Search, GTalk, Google Maps, Hello, etc. I don't think any other Google competitor provides a better interface to those apps/services.



    Skype's interface is vastly better than Google Talk. Yahoo! Maps Beta's interface is vastly better than Google Maps. Yahoo! Mail Beta (invite-only so far)'s inerface is vastly better than GMail.
  • Reply 8 of 44
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    a_greer





    Let us not focus on an iLife Photo management program as the end all be all of Photo work.



    If you wish to recommend solutions to your friends and family it's prudent to take a more holistic view of the market.



    Look at iView Media Pro and the new Liteshow for options under $250 and geared at photogs.



    Picasa is a nice app but it's still just a management application.




    $250 is too much...Picasa, again, is FREE!!!



    Use some logic here: mom doesnt just blow money for no good reason



    PC w/ big flat pannel ~$1200

    2gb RAM ~$150

    Picasa Free

    PSE $0.00 she has the windows version and 3 meets her needs

    AV/anti spyware FREE



    That is about $1500 with tax, a Mac switch looks like this:



    iMac 1199/1699

    2Gb ram ~150

    PSE mac version 100

    new version of Office (STE) 149



    1599 to 2099 is bad enouch...and then I need ANOTHER $200+ software package to do what the included iPhoto SHOULD do? excuse me, but that is a pretty solid deal breaker for someone whos biggest demand is speed, ease and reliability of photo managment and is gettting it FREE now!
  • Reply 9 of 44
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Logic is sadly missing from this thread.





    Linux is free. Why don't you recommend that?
  • Reply 10 of 44
    If I didn't know any better, I'd say Gene Clean was a Google fanboi. Sure, I guess you could say that I'm an Apple fanboi but at least I admit it.



    Lets take bets on how many Picasa-related threads will spawn during the next month. Can't everyone just wait one month to see what Apple has been working on for 1 year?



    If iPhoto 2006 still sucks, then I'll be in line to complain with the complainers because I know I don't want to wait *another* year to get a faster iPhoto with better photo management. But until then, let's not waste precious internet bandwidth.
  • Reply 11 of 44
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    What kind of freakin' response is expected when you create a thread about avoiding Macs on an Apple Rumors website?



    The reality is



    I'll be buying a Mac and it'll have the next iLife. If iPhoto isn't as fast as Picasa I'll be a tad upset but I'm not basing a platform choice around a freakin' free app. Picasa is good...Apple should be making iPhoto better. Period.



    I agree with KKS....please save the rhetoric for post MWSF announcements. Apple's had a year to work on iLife. And for god's sake nix the recommendations based on one app. That's is almost invariably the dumbest thing to do. Recommendations should be based on a total value equation.
  • Reply 12 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison



    I agree with KKS....please save the rhetoric for post MWSF announcements. Apple's had a year to work on iLife. And for god's sake nix the recommendations based on one app. That's is almost invariably the dumbest thing to do. Recommendations should be based on a total value equation.




    Exactly.



    And one could also interpret the whole thing as Apple allowing others to create something better than iPhoto on the Mac. But the reality is, nobody did. Google had over a year...they did nothing. Sooo, iPhoto is the only affordable solution on the Mac...whether we like it or not.



    And it's my opinion that iPhoto isn't half as bad as some people make it out to be. But...that's just me.
  • Reply 13 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    What kind of freakin' response is expected when you create a thread about avoiding Macs on an Apple Rumors website?



    That doesn't mean that there's actual, rational reasoning behind that. Just because its an Apple Rumors website, doesn't mean that discussions about third party software should always end with "it sux0rs, Apple's UI is always better!11!" even if that UI is, in fact, worse or at least not as good as its cranked up to be.



    I mean, I'm no Google fanboi (as was suggested...) but I sure do not think that Yahoo Mail has a better interface than GMail (sorry Chucker ). I don't think iPhoto is a better program than Picasa, however relative that may be to ones needs and uses of that particular program.



    I was just pointing out that judging Google by an unreleased, not-even-official-beta, leaked program and making a sweeping statement that all their software is like that software (a claim that is patently false) is just a little bit misleading.



    Now, wether Picasa is better than iPhoto for others is a totally relative story. I don't know if you've ever used iPhoto (you will be buying your first Mac soon, as far as I understand) but its dog-slow compared to Picasa. And it lacks a couple of quirks that Picasa has. Someone may argue that iPhoto has the system (or at least, iLife) integration with OS X that Picasa lacks with Windows, and that's a valid point.



    But saying that you should expect knee-jerk responses when discussing about non-Apple software in an Apple Rumors website is... less than great, so to say. To each his own, though.
  • Reply 14 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    Linux is free. Why don't you recommend that?



    I do. All the time. But to say why don't you recommend an entire different operating system to a person that needs just to organize his photos in a fast and easy way and at the same time claim that there's no logic in this thread is... oh wait, illogical?



    Just teasing you though.
  • Reply 15 of 44
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    I mean, I'm no Google fanboi (as was suggested...) but I sure do not think that Yahoo Mail has a better interface than GMail (sorry Chucker ).



    Yahoo! Mail (I'm strictly talking about the private, invite-only beta) has drag&drop of e-mails rather than manual move commands, has scrolling rather than pages and overall looks much, much cleaner.



    I have a feeling you haven't looked into it.
  • Reply 16 of 44
    Pop me an invite, and I might.
  • Reply 17 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    I do. All the time. But to say why don't you recommend an entire different operating system to a person that needs just to organize his photos in a fast and easy way and at the same time claim that there's no logic in this thread is... oh wait, illogical?



    Just teasing you though.




    But, how I red his original post was just that, he was recommending new os(mac) for just that, so why not then take linux in consideration?
  • Reply 18 of 44
    Because he's talking about Picasa, and Picasa isn't available on Linux.
  • Reply 19 of 44
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    Because he's talking about Picasa, and Picasa isn't available on Linux.



    So? He was also talking about iPhoto and thats not available on Windows or Linux, Linux has it's own FREE tools as well, so I think that's valid alternative
  • Reply 20 of 44
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gene Clean

    Pop me an invite, and I might.



    I would if I had one myself. My assumptions so far are solely based on others' reports and screenshots.\



    Still, having (reluctantly, since it's a web interface after all) used GMail for almost a year now, I can honestly say that while there is still no decent desktop application for e-mail, there is no decent web one either.



    Consequently, and for other reasons (such as spam), I avoid e-mail as much as I can.
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