Apple released a beta version of OS X 10.10.3 today, and it includes the first preview of its new Photos application.
Apple might have just fixed that for Mac users with the new Photos app. It’s the final piece in a plan that Apple unveiled last June, and one that both fixes and unifies a patchwork system it rolled out in 2011. It’s a rethink of how people manage their photo library on a Mac, something that’s been iPhoto’s home turf for more than a decade. Apple’s discontinuing that software along with Aperture (which is aimed at pro photographers), in favor bringing the tools people have on their iPhones and iPads to the Mac. It’s also been built with Apple’s iCloud in mind instead of an afterthought, which feels years overdue.
Over time, iPhote gradually turned into an iTunes-esque behemoth of a program that couldn’t handle larger amounts of photos and generally had serious performance issues. This new Photos applications looks amazing, and I know many, many people who are going to love this.
Sounds like I’ll be sticking with iPhoto until I’m forced to migrate.
Edited 2015-02-05 20:45 UTC
I’ll stay with Lightroom, thanks. Looking at the descriptive I’m less than enchanted. Not fit for purpose, even if you just take snaps of the kids etc.
I am tempted to install “Unbound”.
http://unboundformac.com
And can I still access my photo files without their app, once it’s in there?
Yes. It’s unclear if you have to leave Photos in a flat dir or if any features are lost in the decision but there is an option to store in a Library or to maintain them in the file system.
http://www.imore.com/what-you-need-know-about-photos-os-x
I guess Apple knows, as much as anyone can, that the market demand is moving away from serious software and towards toy-like mobile “apps.”
Photos app is not a serious program for photo editing, it’s a marketing tool for iCloud.
It really looks like a photo library manager, with some very basic editing. And IMO that’s what many people want to *ghasp* manage their photo library. Some basic editing to magically improve the photos, without the confusion created by the plethora of options in a more “pro” package is an added bonus.
I have 10s of thousands of photos in my iPhoto library and the performance is good and has constantly improved over the upgrades.
That being said, I don’t particularly like it and use it primarily to store photos. The interface feels convoluted and dated, and the editing is too basic. (Adobe LR is my primary photo handling software).
PS: It’s a shame Aperture was killed off, it had real promise
Edited 2015-02-06 06:59 UTC
I hope that it is better than iPhoto.
I don’t like apps which puts everything very slowly in a database.
I’m still using Picasa on the mac, that keeps my foto’s where I left them and has some basic crop and other tools and reasonably easy export to mail.
I like Picasa for use on some low-power PC laptops that I travel with. The software’s capabilities are just enough for basic on-the-road editing such as cropping and resizing. Picasa even converts Nikon’s .nef RAW files, which is a critical function.