Any good programs like Picasa for Mac?

[chevy]

Does Picasa do anything that is not in GraphicConverter ?

[Lt Major Burns]

yes, it's like a much better thought out version of iPhoto, a complete consumer photo library system from camera through to organisation and to print, and doesn't rely on it's fragile folder system being intact. also, i like the feature that it asks you to name the folder when you plug in a camera. very smart.

[bsirons]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum.

I have recently purchased a MacBook Pro 15" Core 2 duo and so far so good. I had a skinny Mac in the early 80's but due to the corporate world went to Windows. I am glad to be back and thought that anything to do with graphics would be wonderful on the Mac and that's not quite what I am reading here.

I am surprised that few people have mentioned PS Elements. I have version 4 for Windows and am very happy with it. As well as being a very good editor, one thing it does that others don't seem to do well is to show video clips as part of a slide show. I can select a series of images including AVI files, hit F11 and it goes into a slide show mode and shows still and videos without opening any other programs.

I intend installing both Boot Camp and Parallels on my Mac and will try running PS Elements 4 on the Windows side. Would it be possible to store my pictures in a "Shared" folder and access them from both the Mac and Windows side?

Thanks

[ex2bot]

bsirons, welcome to MacOSX.com!

You'd probably be happier running the Mac version of Photoshop Elements 4. That's not to say that you could use the Windows version. Parallels has definitely made that possible. Maybe there's a "crossgrade" or whatever that would allow you to get the Mac version for less $. You're right, Photoshop Elements is excellent. I'm still at version 2.

As far as sharing your photos, I believe Parallels allows you to access your data from both "sides", Mac and Windows. I don't have an Intel Mac, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.

I'd suggest giving iPhoto a fair try before you dismiss it. It works fine for me. Of course, I "only" have ~1500 photos in iPhoto. Check out the photo books. They're fantastic. And I believe it is possible to set iPhoto 06 to allow you to manually manage your photos, storing them wherever you want.

From what I've read, people are really enthusiastic about Parallels' capabilities. But I think you'll ultimately be better off when you are more comfortable with OS X and run mostly or exclusively Mac apps. Just my humble opinion.

Good luck and have fun!

Doug

[bsirons]

Hi dktrickey

Thank you for the welcome and the response.

I agree that I probably would be happier running the Mac version and quite frankly, running everything Mac. However that is not MY reality. There is a Mac Version of Photoshop Elements available but after having read User Reviews it is a poor port over to MacIntosh. Apparently the Windows version is much better. Not unlike what I read about Quicken, another program I use a lot and likewise will probably stay with the Windows version.

I have just installed Boot Camp and Windows XP Pro and it installed without a hitch. I have subsequently installed several Windows programs and all went well. I tried passing one file between the two systems and it was successful. Whether I will be able to store an entire photo collection and share it, I am not sure.

I did purchase Parallels with my computer but haven't installed it yet. To have Parallels and Boot Camp both installed meant installing Windows twice until just recently when Parallels announced that their most recent Beta software would recognize the Boot Camp version of Windows. Once it becomes stable, I will definately install it.

I will certainly give IPhoto, and all other Mac apps a fair try though. After all I have spent a few dollars on my new Mac and definately want to be a Mac user. It is really a great thing having an Intel based Mac that you can have the best of both worlds.

Bob

[ex2bot]

I'm sure using a combination of XP and OS X apps is probably ideal, but as far as PS Elements goes, Macworld gave it 4.5 mice out of 5. They said it was excellent. In a quick review I skimmed, the reviewer indicated the he really liked it, though he said it was still a little too "Windowsy" for him.

There's this prevalent myth that there's a paucity of software for the Mac and that they tend to be inferior. That's not generally true. There are, however, a few high-profile turkeys like Quicken and anything Symantec / Norton.

Some excellent apps, some of whose quality is unrivaled in their price ranges(*):

iDVD (*)
iMovie (*)
VLC
Keynote (*)
Garageband (*)
iDefrag
Diskwarrior
iTunes (*)
iChat
Toast 7
Mail (for basic email use)
Omnigraffle (flowcharts/business gfx/education gfx - AMAZING interface) (*)
(. . . weird name too)
etc.

Have fun!

Doug

[bsirons]

Thanks again dktrickey.

I think perhaps users are less kind to Elements 4 than the professional reviewers. I got some of my input from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Photosho...TF8&s=software

It's also on sale their for under $60.

Your feedback is appreciated.

Bob

[ex2bot]

Unfortunately, I'm still at version 2 so I can't share any first-hand experience. I'm looking to upgrade to 5 when it arrives for the Mac.

I've been very happy with version 2. I use it frequently, though not usually for anything complex. Just photo tweaks, picture packages, panoramas sometimes, hi-res to web conversion, etc.

I would just say about the non-prof. reviews that for every helpful comment there tend to be dozens or even hundreds of garbage comments in general. I usually trust Macworld reviews. I trust MacAddict (now Mac|Life) reviews even more. I believe they recommend version 4. So, that's my 2 cents worth.

Doug