Reviews of Picasa for Windows

1. 
   dhry

   Reviewing 3.6.0 Build 95.18 (Dec 9, 2009)

   The iPhone of the graphics viewer world. Something simple enough to install on your grandparents' machine. Doesn't skimp on necessary features, reasonably fast, reasonably intuitive, fun features such as image collages etc, and AFAIK the only free viewer on Windows which supports face recognition. Integrates nicely with Picasaweb (far better than Flickr) and even allows your relatives to link into your Picasaweb account then download pictures from your online gallery directly to their Picasa instance for offline viewing or printing. May not be for everyone or have uber-configurability but, like the iPhone, it has its place.
   
   And for the anti-Google brigade - you have the option to not send anon usage statistics to Google when you install it - PLUS nobody's saying you need the internet to use it either. Just firewall off the entire program if that makes you more comfortable. Sigh.
   
   Key Features of v3.6:
   * Added support for Collaborative Albums. Now you can upload to a friend's album right from Picasa. You can also invite collaborators to your own albums when you're uploading photos or sharing with friends.
   * Added option to share with groups during upload process.
   * Added name tag recommendations when viewing albums or folder in the People Panel.
   * Improved control over name tags: you can remove certain folders from being scanned for faces by toggling face detection for any folder (I guess this means bsagnell will now use it?)
   * Added the ability to create and save custom crop sizes.
   * Added an option to preserve original JPG compression quality when uploading to Picasa Web Albums. This will take up more online storage space, but upgrade prices are now much more affordable.
   * Added option to import photos by date taken, today's date, or a custom folder name. If "date taken" is selected, photos will be automatically organized and saved to separate folders by date.
2. 
   guevara

   Reviewing 3.6.0 Build 95.18 (Dec 9, 2009)

   Google spyware
3. 
   LazarusKane

   Reviewing 3.5.0 Build 79.81 (Nov 4, 2009)

   and here´s the Changelog:
   
   Version 3.5, Build 79.81 - November 3, 2009
   
   - Improved stability during import.
   - Fixed a crash related to Quicktime.
   - Improved the migration process for users upgrading from XP to Windows 7.
   - Added RAW support for the following cameras:
   Canon EOS 7D Olympus E-620
   Canon EOS 500D Olympus E-P1
   Canon PowerShot A530 Pentax K-7
   Canon PowerShot G11 Panasonic DMC-FZ35
   Canon PowerShot A470 Sony DSLR-A230
   Kodak EasyShare Z980 Sony DSLR-A330
   Kodak EasyShare Z1015 Sony DSLR-A380
   Nikon D3000 Sony DSLR-A8
   Nikon D5000
4. 
   nilst2006

   Reviewing 3.5.0 Build 79.81 (Nov 4, 2009)

   Google - no thanks ! Pure spying on users !
5. 
   bsagnell

   Reviewing 3.5.0 Build 79.81 (Nov 4, 2009)

   Having used all versions since the first, I'll pass on this one until face recognition becomes user-selected, not the default. Unless I missed that function?
   Otherwise the only photo editing and cataloging program most users will ever need. Version 3 highly recommended.
6. 
   driver8

   Reviewing 3.5.0 Build 79.69 (Oct 2, 2009)

   Google - please make your changelog easier to find ! (Loving the product, btw)
   
   Version 3.5, Build 79.69 - September 30, 2009
   
   * Fixed an issue where the Universal Terms of Service displays garbled text when installed on non-English versions of Windows.
   * Fixed an issue where certain scanners weren't recognized when importing.
   * Fixed an issue where the Retouch edit was not applied.
   * Fixed an issue where editing contact information in Picasa altered the formating of contact information at http://contacts.google.com/
   * Added a progress bar when batch editing with 'Auto Red Eye Correction.'
   * Returned the 'Copy full path' option to the right-click menu.
   * Increased stability through multiple crash fixes. Thanks for reporting!
7. 
   extremely well

   Reviewing 3.5.0 Build 79.69 (Oct 2, 2009)

   I'm starting to like this one better than ACDSee Pro 3.0 (also recently out)... Face recognition is such a damn amazing technology..... This will have to be integrated into the OS eventually with other semi/fully automatic tagging systems (for music with lyrics, videos/movies, audio recordings such as voicemails transcripts a la google voice, etc).
8. 
   dhry

   Reviewing 3.5 Build 79.67 (Sep 23, 2009)

   This new version adds face tagging, which they've had in Picasaweb online for a while now. Very, very cool.
9. 
   betasun

   Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.43 (May 10, 2009)

   Some "sliders" for ex. sharpness slider doesnot work for me .
10. 
    cs

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.43 (May 5, 2009)

    Version 3.1, Build 71.43 - May 4, 2009
    
    * Fixed an issue affecting the layout of Mosaic-style collages.
    * Fixed an issue where canceling the import process with safe delete selected removed photos from the storage device.
11. 
    cs

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.40 (Apr 30, 2009)

    Version 3.1, Build 71.40 - April 28, 2009
    
    * Fixed an issue with overlapping usage stats text in foreign language versions.
12. 
    cs

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.36 (Apr 25, 2009)

    Version 3.1, Build 71.36 - April 23, 2009
    
    * Fixed an issue where unedited 'Original Size' uploads to Picasa Web Albums were being compressed. These uploads should now respect the compression value associated with the picture.
    * Fixed an issue that caused cropped images to display incorrectly when combined with sharpen or glow.
13. 
    tylerhw

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.36 (Apr 25, 2009)

    Out performs any other freeware/Open Source Album Manager I've seen yet (And that's a lot) besides F-Spot which is also very good in several different ways. It also works really well when it uploads photos to the free web album. 5/5 for being cross-platform, easy to use and intuitive, free (duh), useful photo viewer included, and powerful image editing.
14. 
    some guy

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.36 (Apr 24, 2009)

    nice photo quick fix get sit quick online photo gallery is very nice . Easy email that pic ect.... would like to see a better video encode system not every one uses you -tube. But all around you can't go wrong with this program.
15. 
    jspratjr

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.36 (Apr 24, 2009)

    Excellent for what it's intended for: image browsing, organization and basic image editing.
16. 
    KSzostek

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.36 (Apr 24, 2009)

    It has been out for a long time and still so basic.
    
    Thats the problem with Google they rush to put out a program then they basiclly forget about it, they are veeeeery slow to add content to most of their projects. Disappointing.
17. 
    cs

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.32 (Apr 18, 2009)

    Version 3.1, Build 71.32 - April 15, 2009
    
    * Fixed an error preventing the launch of Picasa.
18. 
    cs

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.28 (Apr 15, 2009)

    Version 3.1, Build 71.28 - April 14, 2009
    
    * Added beta support for right-to-left languages Hebrew and Arabic.
    * Increased video upload limit from Picasa to Picasa Web Albums to 1GB in filesize, but unlimited in length of duration (in minutes/seconds).
19. 
    Jayayess1190

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.28 (Apr 14, 2009)

    Awesome program, great tools and results. Wish it had a panorama maker like Windows Live Photo Gallery.
20. 
    WebWarp

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.18 (Mar 24, 2009)

    #frankwick
    "Picasa is a great product, but to be honest I haven't used mine in about a year." NOW WHY DO YOU MAKE A REVIEW WHEN YOU DON*T USE THE PROGRAM ??
    
    "SueAmma
    "IrfanView, XnView and FastStone Image Viewer are much more to my liking."
    READ THE RULES BEFORE POSTING ????? NOOB ?
21. 
    cs

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.18 (Mar 24, 2009)

    Release Notes for Version 3.1, Build 71.18 - March 23, 2009
    
    * Added support for ICC color profiles.
    * Newly created versions of hidden files will be renamed to be compatible with their Mac counterparts: '.picasa.ini' and '.picasaoriginals'.
    * Integrated user stats reporting. You can opt-out on the Tools > Options > General tab.
    * Various bug fixes to address user issues with database corruption, loading pictures, email, upload to Picasa Web Albums, and video rendering.
    * Added a fix for images appearing less sharpened when saved -- also applies to glow and film grain effects.
    * Updated RAW support for new cameras:
    o Canon EOS 5D Mark II
    o Canon EOS 50D
    o Canon PowerShot G10
    o FjiFilm IS Pro
    o Nikon D90
    o Nikon COOLPIX P6000
    o Pentax K2000
    o Panasonic DMC-FZ28
    o Panasonic DMC-LX3
    o Panasonic DMC-FX150
    o Panasonic DMC-G1
22. 
    frankwick

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 71.18 (Mar 24, 2009)

    Picasa is a great product, but to be honest I haven't used mine in about a year. For organzing photos, making panos, uploading to Facebook, etc I now use Windows Live Photo Gallery. For serious edits, Photoshop.
23. 
    SueAmma

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 70.73 (Jan 18, 2009)

    I think Picasa's GUI and limited funtionality would be great for Newbies.
    
    A lot of screen real estate is wasted on large buttons and blank space which could be better used to present a larger image preview. The feature list is also limited compared to other photo organzers.
    
    IrfanView, XnView and FastStone Image Viewer are much more to my liking.
24. 
    kindbud1

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 70.73 (Jan 9, 2009)

    Great program.
    
    Thank you, alanpalmer. Whoever submits this to betanews without linking to the changelog is a douche.
25. 
    alanpalmer

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 70.71 (Jan 6, 2009)

    @ docco: :D
    Firefox did the same to me, "Firefox for Windows 3.1".
    
    Concerning this latest build, I quite like it. Changelog (FWIW) is at http://picasa-readme.blogspot.com/2008/12/introducing-picasa-31-build-7071.html
    
    I particularly like the easier method of uploading to a Web album, and synching.
26. 
    docco

    Reviewing 3.1 Build 70.71 (Dec 18, 2008)

    It's just a great program! the whole watch/tag/upload/fix experience is so much easier...
    
    btw, this review was written on "Picasa for Windows 3.1 Build 70.71". -- At 1st glimpse I wondered if they started to support Windows 3.1 ;-)
27. 
    BOTOX

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.52 Beta (Nov 19, 2008)

    Picasa Photo Viewer stopped working, uninstalling Picasa resulted in an error (it hung).
    
    When I looked in the Task Manager, multiple session of process picaphotoviewer.exe was active, each with a 5 Mb footprint.
    
    After reboot I could remove it, but I feel uneasy using it. Don't know what went wrong.
    
    It could work for you flawlessly, but for me it did not. I advise to wait with this one, until the official release is there.
28. 
    tannenwheel

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.52 Beta (Nov 15, 2008)

    aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. latest beta crashes all the time, like randomly after X seconds.
    
    now i have to give a bad rating :p , not because a beta is buggy, but because they shovel those betas into my throat (notifer and all) without allowing downgrades (no old download available, exept V2 which might not be compatible, i dont want to risk messing up my database, cause you loose the sync-assosciation to online albums each time you rebuild the database, which is actually the real problem)
    
    thats not "testing"
    
    now i cant use picasa until next beta :(
    
    ----
    
    edit: well, turned out picasa was crashing each time process lasso was trying to interfere with it. a year ago, when i tested process lasso for the first time, it made faststome image viewer unusable. so process lasso sucks. set it, forgett it, have it stalking your system.
    ---
    still, i will never delete a picasa setup file again, until two further versions are available.
29. 
    betasun

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.52 Beta (Nov 12, 2008)

    Its a fast Raw editor but the result in jpeg is degraded around 1 megabyte .also it needs a
    adjusting slider for sharpness .
    overall a very nice program .
30. 
    cmotdibbler

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.52 Beta (Nov 11, 2008)

    It seems to run as well as the last beta (very smooth). Wish there was a changelog.
31. 
    PagingDrLeoMarvin

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.44 Final (Nov 11, 2008)

    I love Picasa
32. 
    Ian C.

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.44 Final (Nov 4, 2008)

    The new viewer in this version is really cool, but a little buggy.
33. 
    Vimes

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.44 Final (Nov 4, 2008)

    An excellent utility that works well. Ease of use with some great image manipulation features makes it quite a powerful package without the expertise needed to learn other cumbersome suites.
34. 
    aruprc

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.44 Final (Nov 3, 2008)

    Its quite fast, slick and has good editing features as well, a must for those who upload pics to Picasa accounts, makes it so convenient to just edit, caption and select the pics and upload from your PC. It has no spyware.
35. 
    cardob

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.44 Final (Nov 3, 2008)

    Picasa is a very good application with plenty of features all working very well, it is very fast to query pictures on hard drive (I have around 50000 pictures so I know what I mean). It is free and no ads or anything like this. A+++++
36. 
    nilst2006

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.44 Beta (Nov 2, 2008)

    Google spyware.....
37. 
    gate1975mlm

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.41 Beta (Oct 24, 2008)

    Picasa 3 is so great!!!
    The new new image viewer like someone else said is fantastic!!!!
    
    Build 57.41 looks to be a final version as the Beta text has been removed from the about box.
38. 
    jspratjr

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.41 Beta (Oct 23, 2008)

    How anyone can rate this free program anything less than a 5 is beyond me. Just keeps getting better and better.
39. 
    calex71

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.24 Beta (Sep 23, 2008)

    negitive comments from the tin foil hat gang as usual about google.
    
    the new image viewer is fantastic!!!! running in vista it opens an image much faster than windows photo galary could ever dream of.
40. 
    navidh

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.24 Beta (Sep 23, 2008)

    Quite simply...da bomb!
41. 
    Ain Soph Aur

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.24 Beta (Sep 23, 2008)

    really the best software to organize your images in a very stylish way. its easy to use, it looks very cool and smooth and works pretty good for me.
    
    @Diam0nd
    i think its not possible to NOT giving informations away while working on a computer... so what? i am really a extenzive shrooms user and i also smoke weed my whole life... SO WHAT?? i dont hide that, there is no reason. so, i dont have more secrets. bye the way, if you are frightend, you can use faststone in stead or something else...
    
    peace out :D
42. 
    Diam0nd

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.24 Beta (Sep 23, 2008)

    I think google pretty much got information on everyone already, yet still they try to gather more...
    
    Try ExifPro or IrfanView or XnView, better. They are both free (except for ExifPro) AND spyware free.
43. 
    nukefixer

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.22 Beta (Sep 16, 2008)

    Best free photo software going!
    
    A must have!
44. 
    cees2000

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.22 Beta (Sep 16, 2008)

    another attempt by the Google Stasi to collect user information. There are better apps around that are truly free!
45. 
    driver8

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.19 Beta (Sep 14, 2008)

    September 09, 2008 - Picasa 3 (Beta), Build 57.19
    
    # Automatically sync edits from PC to web, and share online albums directly from Picasa.
    # New Retouching tool, Text tool, Smart Cropping tool, and improved Photo Collage tool.
    # Create video slideshows with photos, videos, and music.
    # Direct upload of videos to YouTube.
    # Streamlined photo viewer for browsing photos via the Desktop or Windows Explorer.
    http://readme.picasa.com/picasaweb/
    
    WHAT'S NEW
    Sync your Picasa 3 and Picasa Web Albums edits
    Retouch your images
    Preview image files with Picasa Photo Viewer
    Create and edit movies
    Capture your screen
    Add text or watermarks to your photos
    Print captions
    Upload easily to Picasa Web Albums
    Control your Picasa Web Albums settings
    Manage folders on your computer
    Get more information about your photos
    
    WHAT'S CHANGED -
    Collage
    sharing
    Auto red-eye
    Cropping
    Screensaver
    Multiple word tags
    Importing
    slideshow
    
    Picasa : Picasa 3 feature overview - http://picasa.google.com.../answer.py?answer=93773
    
    Picasa-3 blog - discussion of new features
    http://googlephotos.blogspot.com/
46. 
    some guy

    Reviewing 3.0 Build 57.19 Beta (Sep 3, 2008)

    I like the new build great program to get the photos to the web fast. I would like to see more templates. I also would like the option to upload viedos to google not just you tube.
    
    love the quick veiw and the quic upload awsome
47. 
    tannenwheel

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.64 (Aug 21, 2008)

    the good:
    
    uploads to googles image host (the only reason to use picasa)
    
    handles a lot of files
    
    updates database index using a low impact tray tool.
    
    handles video thumbnails without crashing
    
    does support treeview, though its not default configuration
    
    search feature is nice
    
    can delete from disk (well, just to R-bin)
    
    the bad:
    
    does not display or download from picasa image host. wtf, google?
    
    scrolling/paging bar is weird. i would prefer precision over bungee jumping. i understand, why they like it that way. but i like jumping between two positions in different folders, to compare etc. thats a big pain, now. the whole design would be more consequent if i could even select files from different folders at once.
    
    needs customizable commands to run user apps 'on' selected image + hotkeys
    
    database can not be moved from appdata and whines about lack of space even if the storage directory in appdata is "junctioned" to another drive where there is unlimited space.
    
    should have optional per-image-fullscreen-view hotkey. irfan style.
    
    picasa web host does not support animated gif files or png files? if i had money to buy another host i would not take such crap. thanx for the space anyway.
    
    needs changelog and autoupdate ...
    
    fazit: the overall experience is below google-feeling. also, an application that is officially designed for real life camera fotos only, not for other images - is illdesigned. life is complicated enough without such pointless specialization.
48. 
    AntiochMedia

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.63 (Aug 21, 2008)

    It's good for novices - a few things I don't like. I do not like the fact that it is integrated with an online file hosting service that limits you on space. If this app could manage web galleries have custom schemes for that, it would be very valuable.
    
    I also wish that this would grow more to be like Lightroom and allow RAW Editing.
    
    I'm asking for this to be a different program, but at the same time, I'd like Adobe Lightroom to be more like Picasa.
49. 
    rhy7s

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.63 (Aug 20, 2008)

    Still the easiest image organisation app to recommend to the less technically inclined. I'm assuming release notes will appear at http://readme.picasa.com/public/releasenotes.html sometime.
50. 
    DudeBoyz

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.63 (Aug 20, 2008)

    I still feel that this program is too sluggish. It also doesn't seem to be updated as frequently as it could and probably should be. I believe there are better, faster and more efficient programs out there available for free, and that is one reason why I don't recommend this program to anyone. Yes, it is free, but I do not think it stands up well against the competition.
51. 
    kindbud1

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.63 (Aug 20, 2008)

    5/5 of course
    
    but W(here)TF are the release notes?
52. 
    legion

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.63 (Aug 20, 2008)

    Nice but I need more filters or add brush function.
53. 
    tp

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.63 (Aug 20, 2008)

    i like picasa as an organizer and quick editor but it could be better, and I hope it does get better. I don't see any changes in this release, so just guessing that it's under the hood stuff..
54. 
    Ain Soph Aur

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.63 (Aug 20, 2008)

    Picasa, FastStone & Paint.NET
    thats it! :D
55. 
    SuzzyWoozy

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.49 (Mar 8, 2008)

    I will continue this thread started by 'some guy':
    
    Photo Organizer: Picasa
    
    Picture viewer/browser: FastStone (I can believe you're still struggling to use IrfanView)
    
    Editing Picture: Paint.NET, PhotoFiltre (Infranview/Gimp if you still like to struggling part)
    
    Know your needs, know your (free& powerful) tools.
56. 
    Dave \o/

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.49 (Mar 7, 2008)

    5/5 wonderfully easy program to use with nice hooks to an online web album.
57. 
    RWW

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.36 (Feb 3, 2008)

    I have only used Picasa for an organizer and it does a wonderful job.
58. 
    alanpalmer

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.36 (Oct 31, 2007)

    Also @ Some Guy ...
    
    "IrfanView to see your pictures" Ok, that's free, but the picture viewer is not a patch on Picasa's.
    
    "photo-shop or psp or gimp to edit" The first two cost quite a lot of money and are unnecessarily complex for the target user. The Gimp is free, but is complex and unintuitive for many.
    
    "lightroom to adjust" Another $300 program, also too complex for the target user.
59. 
    brusco

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.32 (Oct 4, 2007)

    @some guy (below)
    
    Picasa is a photo ORGANIZER with some other functionality. You don't mention what you would use to organize your photos. Those applications you mentioned don't do it, or do it extremely poorly.
    
    Your inability to understand what it is that you are reviewing is quite amusing. Its like saying you don't like Microsoft Word because it doesn't create spreadsheets like Excel does. Bonehead.
60. 
    jspratjr

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.32 (Oct 3, 2007)

    enough said? you just mentioned at least 3 separate programs that you can do with 1..now that's enough said.
    
    As others have mentioned, Picasa is an excellent program for its target audience.
61. 
    some guy

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.29 (Sep 13, 2007)

    to me I thought a Big AOL stamp on the front of this program would have done it justice.
    
    IrfanView to see your pictures.
    photo-shop or psp or gimp to edit
    
    lightroom to adjust
    
    enough said........
62. 
    rhy7s

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.29 (Sep 12, 2007)

    A bit limited but very handy for giving to the less technically inclined with the safety of non-destructive editing.
    
    "don't see what I get with picasa that I don't have already have with Adobe Bridge and Photoshop"
    
    Yeah, because that's really the market Picasa's aiming for ? :-/
63. 
    netean

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.29 (Sep 12, 2007)

    strangely my antivirus claimed that the installed included a trojan! (probably a false positive, but odd nonetheless)
    
    First run, started browsing my machine... reboot!
    
    Ran second time, started browing my documents for pictures... reboot...
    
    Sadly, there is still no upload facility to other web accounts (i.e. flickr) - not massively suprised as flickr is owned by yahoo, but still. I'd like that facility.
    
    overall, not massively impressed
    don't see what I get with picasa that I don't have already have with Adobe Bridge and Photoshop.
64. 
    improvelence

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.27 (Sep 7, 2007)

    Even if google is becoming evil and will signal the end of the world, they make (or re-brand) a damn fine product.
65. 
    amweiss157

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.27 (Sep 7, 2007)

    @Paul Skinner
    
    no, it doesn't...
    
    Copies of unedited images are stored in hidden sub folders. The thumbnail database is right where he said it was.
    
    Still my favorite free photo editor/organizer!
66. 
    cs

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.27 (Sep 7, 2007)

    Changes:
    * Added support for 7 additional languages: Croatian, Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, and Ukrainian
    * Fixed a problem with Picasa jumping to the wrong picture after deleting a picture
    * Fixed two issues which could cause a "Failed to Connect" error when logging into Picasa Web Albums
    * Fixed a case in which an error could result when opening pictures with third-party products
    * Fixed problems related to Picasa Media Detector not disabling properly
67. 
    Paul Skinner

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 37.23 (Aug 22, 2007)

    @brusco:
    
    Yes it does. They're hidden, that's all.
68. 
    brusco

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.60 (Jul 6, 2007)

    @AntiochMedia
    
    No Picasa dosn't put loads of stray browser cache files in every folder. It uses one central database to store all info and thumbnail data. (Which is in C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Picasa2\db2 incase you're wondering) Which is why I like it. I hate the way Paint shop pro (jbf files) and even Windows Explorer (thumbs.db) leave crappy thumbnail cache file everywhere.
69. 
    AntiochMedia

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.40 (May 8, 2007)

    I'm lazy. Have they stopped placing little data files in all of the folders that are imported into Picasa? I've tried several versions that all did this. I have no tolerance for applications that litter my hard drive, and in the case of Picasa, it's a shame as this is a wonderful application that is a joy to use and is very well executed.
70. 
    trevithick

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.40 (May 8, 2007)

    When Picasa finally allows you to print captions with your photos, I will be able to wean one of my clients off of RitzPix. Ugh!
    
    The last version made a shambles of the folders and dates.
    
    As to features, I find it to be the easiest of all photo manipulation softwares. I love the image straightening capability. (I must be leaning as I get older)
    
    Please, give me printable captions!
71. 
    lilbasta

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.37 (Apr 25, 2007)

    When build 36.37 is installed on my 'pewter, it says "2.6" and not "2.7". Which is which? 2.6 or 2.7?
72. 
    nukefixer

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.36 (Apr 24, 2007)

    Continues to simply be the best free all around photo software available.
    
    The web posting feature is top notch!
73. 
    Lick

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.36 (Apr 24, 2007)

    Simply the best.
74. 
    KSzostek

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.36 (Apr 23, 2007)

    Still a bit buggy and still needs more options.
    
    Not to bad for free.
75. 
    Dave \o/

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.36 (Apr 23, 2007)

    Stunning program
    
    http://picasa.google.com.../answer.py?answer=53209
76. 
    kpoulton

    Reviewing 2.7 Build 36.36 (Apr 23, 2007)

    April 20, 2007
    Picasa 2.7, Build 36.36
    
    # New RAW processing engine, with support for more cameras and improved color.
    # New color engine for "tuning" fixes.
    # Added support for Google Photos Screensaver.
    # Improved BlogThis! reliability.
77. 
    norz

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 36.19.0 (Feb 21, 2007)

    Does anyone know where the changes of this version are listed?
78. 
    zridling

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 36.19.0 (Feb 5, 2007)

    It's pretty cool they offer a Linux version.
79. 
    extremely well

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 36.19.0 (Feb 5, 2007)

    It's really beautiful. And now even foreign-language folder names and tags work correctly. It's starting to be hard for me to justify using ACDSee Pro... But still there's plenty of room for improvement from all competitors - nobody yet maximizes the WinFX abilities Vista brought with it for faster rendering and totally sexy effects/GUI.
80. 
    nukefixer

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 36.19.0 (Feb 5, 2007)

    One of the BEST freeware programs available, even better than some you purchase.
    If you don't have it, get it, its that good!
81. 
    KSzostek

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.97.0 (Dec 13, 2006)

    Still a bit buggy, needs more options.
82. 
    S_K

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.97.0 (Dec 13, 2006)

    New in this update
    
    Picasa now automatically downloads updates in the background so you don't have to wait for a download to complete when updating. To disable this feature go to Tools > Options.
    
    * Added Vista / Internet Explorer 7 support
    * Changed update behavior
    * Picasa Web Albums is now available in 18 languages
83. 
    norz

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.97.0 (Dec 13, 2006)

    What's new? Didn't find any info on their site, nor did I find a dedicated blog...
84. 
    uberfly

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.94.0 (Dec 7, 2006)

    It's excellent, free or not. It does have it annoyances though. Like mentioned below, it has to scan ans store everything, relevant or not to where your dig iamge files are stored. It needs to be more customizable. For a non-free option, but much, much better IMO, try PicaJet.
85. 
    castiglione

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Dec 6, 2006)

    Excellent PHOTO EDITOR.
    
    This editor is excellent for many reasons, a few to follow.
    
    The interface is flawless. You have the ability to use your webalbum with Picasa, even upload photos via Picasa.
    
    The scanning ONLY happens if YOU SELECT it, so the fault of people saying it automatically scans is on their own heads. They didn't deselect that option (silly humans).
    
    I gave it a five because I love what Google has done with Picasa.
86. 
    bsagnell

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Nov 28, 2006)

    Still my favourite program, but my two main gripes still remain: Publishing to a web album rarely if ever works, with persistent retrying and timeouts and 'failed to connect to server' messages, with little success in the end.
    
    Batch renaming still corrupts the file names if they contain a hyphen, like 2006-11-10 my dog.jpg becomes 2006-11-11.jpg, 2006-11-12.jpg for subsequent files (rather than 2006-11-10 my dog -1.jpg etc). This did not happen until recent builds, and should be easy to correct (please!). For instance by using the Windows standard of putting the file serial number in parenthesis (1) rather than separated by a hyphen.
    
    Still, Picasa is my program of choice for 99% of my needs, which are not all trivial.
87. 
    ShayEr

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Nov 28, 2006)

    (from http://readme.picasa.com/picasaweb/)
    
    November 20, 2006
    Picasa 2.6, Build 35.65
    
    # We are testing a number of improvements to Picasa in this build Windows Vista compatibility: installation, update, and several visible fixes
    # New drivers for CD burning: improve compatibility and support dual-layer drives
    # Fixes for video upload: timeouts are handled better in IE
88. 
    mo_mo

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Nov 28, 2006)

    prefect
    love it
    works very well with my Nikon D70s jpeg files
    however it is a bit slow with raw files format
    maybe google should improve on that if possible? =)
    just a suggestion ^^
    overall still love it ^^
89. 
    Warat

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Nov 28, 2006)

    It's not about excluding some folders from being scanned, it's the fact that Picasa NEEDS to scan a folder in order to work with it.
    
    I have tons of images I want to manage, Picasa uses nearly a gig of my HD for them, and I don't like that.
90. 
    jogygeorge

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Nov 28, 2006)

    Maybe it does allow one to customize the folder to be scanned, but that is only after the initial scan! On installation, no option is available to select the folder to be scanned ... atleast not until the last version ... this one, I do not know!
91. 
    DudeBoyz

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Nov 27, 2006)

    Free is good, but I do think this thing feels more like a sales tool for services than a functional program.
    
    I do prefer FastStone Image Viewer, I believe. But for beginners who cotton to the interface, it may serve their needs. For me, it just never felt like I was really in control. It did not feel intuitive and I got frustrated with it. I'll keep trying the app and see how stable it is longer term.
    
    It really does irritate me that you can't seem to exit out of that forced scan at startup. Pushy software is LAME.
92. 
    oc-athlonxp.com

    Reviewing 2.6.0 Build 35.65.0 Beta (Nov 27, 2006)

    Excellent for a free program.
    
    For the reviewer below: "For me, it doesn't give enough control. I keep my photos in one folder with somewhat organized subfolders but picassa can't be configured to just scan one area, it has to index every image on all drives. Why does it insist on bloating its catalog with native windows graphics and such that I don't want there. Google's just gotta know what ya got..." --Picasa has the option to include or exclude whatever folders you want. You have to go in the the program options and set it. For instance, I don't want my wife looking at the nude pictures of my ex-girlfriends, so I have that folder not only hidden in the OS, but excluded in Picasa! It has as much control as you want.
93. 
    KSzostek

    Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.97.0 Beta (Nov 15, 2006)

    Not bad for beginners. Not much in features. Pretty sluggish, another project rushed out the door by Google.
94. 
    rendez2k

    Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.97.0 Beta (Nov 15, 2006)

    Uberfly, folder scanning can customized under tools, folder manager!
95. 
    uberfly

    Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.97.0 Beta (Nov 15, 2006)

    For me, it doesn't give enough control. I keep my photos in one folder with somewhat organized subfolders but picassa can't be configured to just scan one area, it has to index every image on all drives. Why does it insist on bloating its catalog with native windows graphics and such that I don't want there. Google's just gotta know what ya got...
96. 
    alanpalmer

    Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.97.0 Beta (Nov 14, 2006)

    A very good program, especially for an amateur/beginner. Professionals would want more, but they'd have to pay. I've recommended it to some non-computer-savvy friends and they had no trouble understanding it and using it to enhance their photographs and publish them on the (free) Picasa site as a couple of albums.
97. 
    DudeBoyz

    Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.97.0 Beta (Nov 14, 2006)

    Not bad, but the product tie-in things kinda bug me.
    
    I think I prefer FastStone Image Viewer, though none of them are perfect.
    
    For whatever reason, I find this program less than intuitive and a bit sluggish and buggy.
98. 
    ernstblaauw

    Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.97.0 Beta (Nov 14, 2006)

    Perfect program! I always use this one to organize my pictures.
    
    I got a question: Where is the source of all those beta Picasa versions? I can't fing it on Google...
99. 
    TC17

    Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.95.0 Beta (Nov 11, 2006)

    This is a nice program, but still lacking. Like some others have said, its too simplified. It may or may not be a bug, but it also will not let you choose the option to not scan all drives when you install it.
100. 
     utomo

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.95.0 Beta (Oct 10, 2006)

     What google need to lear is Making better User Interface, so it can be easily used by new user and advanced user. and improve the usability.
     
     many google software are too simple the interface. sometimes it even make difficult to use/ too limited features.
101. 
     bsagnell

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.94.0 Beta (Sep 19, 2006)

     With this build there is one new problem and one old: The new one is that batch renaming no longer accepts numbers separated by hyphens in the file name, of type "2006-09-11 Name of picture.jpg". This gets corrupted in the following pictures to
     "2006-09-12.jpg", "2006-09-13.jpg" etc. This worked correctly until the latest builds.
     The old problem remains: Publishing to the web album never works with the Optimized, fast default. It only tries repeatedly. Selecting Medium file size works most of th time.
     Please keep it up. Picasa is still my favorite for 95% of all photo activities.
102. 
     extremely well

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.94.0 Beta (Sep 19, 2006)

     The best freeware photo manager, most certainly. But ACDSee Pro is still the best overall (on 2GHz+ machines).
103. 
     ShayEr

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.94.0 Beta (Sep 19, 2006)

     Changelog:
     
     http://readme.picasa.com/public/releasenotes.html
104. 
     AntiochMedia

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.94.0 Beta (Sep 18, 2006)

     4, because I used an old version and liked it.
     4, because it stuck index files in each folder that I used with it.
     
     I do not want to waste time installing this and watching it do the same thing. Does this add index files to each folder still?
105. 
     Ian C.

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.91 (Sep 17, 2006)

     You can change what folders it indexes, just gotta go through the menus to find it. I forget where exactly it was located, but it's there.
106. 
     munga42

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.91 (Sep 17, 2006)

     Can not change index location..
     
     Would othervise give it much higher score
107. 
     photonboy

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.91 (Sep 16, 2006)

     It has potential, but I find some of it is different for the sake of being different and is not necessary better.
     
     I like the Windows Explorer way of organizing pictures and that should ALWAYS be an option. Some of the organization methods are useless for large numbers of pictures.
     
     Remember "Form Follows Function."
108. 
     yokozuna

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.91 (Sep 16, 2006)

     I have very mixed emotions. Picasa is a simple yet very good and intuitive editor but REALLY mediocre in organizing your photo collections. Does not compare to many other organizing tools like e.g. JetPhoto Studio (which is free and believe or not - made by two dudes from the interior of mainland China).
109. 
     Crispy777

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.91 (Sep 16, 2006)

     You forgot to mention geotagging as a new feature, which is important, because geotagging is the future.
     
     Nested folders is also a welcomed feature.
110. 
     zridling

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.91 (Sep 15, 2006)

     It's slow; choosing files and folders is clumsy compared to ACDSee 9; the UI uses far too much space on buttons and sliders (ever heard of tabs?) when the focus should be on the photo; rendering engine is also slow; it lacks good customization options, but despite all this, I love it. Makes your photos look fantastic and as a basic editor, it's better than most anything you'd pay for!
111. 
     hondaman

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.91 (Sep 15, 2006)

     Trying to add new folders where picures are located on your HD is harder than it should be.
     
     Other than that, I love it, and use it daily.
112. 
     horsecharles

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.71 Beta (Sep 5, 2006)

     Please remove win9x from OS req.
113. 
     Lisa Hayes

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.71 Beta (Aug 27, 2006)

     i was waiting for that recently added "folder" option for a long time.
     
     good job! not the perfect sofware for my needs but this is as close as it can get.
114. 
     elpopi

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.71 Beta (Aug 26, 2006)

     Great,fast and smooth running program.
     Captions and tags(keywords) get written to jpeg IPTC metadata which is great shall you want to import your photos and tags into a different software.
     If you shoot RAW+JPEG it can be configured to show JPEGs only.
     And folder structure can be browsed thru in this version.
115. 
     Vimes

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.67 Beta (Aug 19, 2006)

     I have thousands of images and I love the way that Picassa organises my photos and how fast that it does it. I love the simple photo fix options and its ability to back up the image before making changes. The ability to link with the same online photo printing service that I use is a bonus.
     
     Top marks from me for a superb utility, at a great price :)
116. 
     hazlema

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.67 Beta (Aug 18, 2006)

     One of the best photo organizers I have ever used.
     
     Only draw back is it really needs better folder support.
117. 
     twosheds

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.67 Beta (Aug 18, 2006)

     Would be a great free app if there was any way to pop the hood on it (and if it didn't leave those damned .ini pellets in every folder it scans). But it's un-changeable scan-everything-straight-off approach makes it unworkable for a disc with large collections.
     
     Currently too dumbed down to consider seriously. Even MSN Live Messenger will EVENTUALLY surrender a preferences panel if you look hard enough....
118. 
     hondaman

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.67 Beta (Aug 18, 2006)

     I love this program, no doubt about it. Being able to upload to your picasa site is pretty cool too. The interface is slick, although somewhat geared to the complete idiot as far as it scanning your hard drives. I would like an easier, more intuitive way to tell it exactly where my pictures are. Maybe during setup it should ask you what/where to scan?
     
     5 of course for being an awesome free program.
119. 
     zridling

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.67 Beta (Aug 18, 2006)

     Wow, this version crashes hard. Picasa is fine if you've got small collections, but if you're into photography and have tens of thousands of photos, Picasa's performance takes a significant hit. Whatever they did, undo it.
120. 
     castiglione

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.67 Beta (Aug 18, 2006)

     You don't have to select the option for the app to scan the hard drive.. that's obviously very simple.
121. 
     coolticker

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.43 Beta (Jul 30, 2006)

     Wondefull interface, smooth and "MacOS like", but too heavy because of the complete scan of your hard drive when you have only a PIII 1Ghz machine. Also when you apply some effects to picture, it is nice they are only "virtual" and applied each time you go back to the pictute, but how do I save the resulting picture for real ?
     
     After being a long time pro-ACDSee, I know use FastStone Image Viewer freeware that is smaller and have tons of really fast accessible features, I love its side-by-side up to 4 images comparator, really cool to definitly select the best shot !
122. 
     bsagnell

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.43 Beta (Jul 29, 2006)

     This version adds an important and elegant set of really desirable improvements. I have used Picasa since before Google (bought it for 50.- then) and have loved it ever since. Although I have Photoshop, Elements and many other photo programs, Picasa is always my starting point, and I rarely need to leave it anymore. It has always been perfectly stable and reliable for my mid-sized collection of less than 15'000 photos.
     Printing is excellent and the Order Prints which has automatically selected the photo labs in my vicinity, which is Switzerland, works very well. It is a big convenience.
     And now one can also save back edited copies, which makes it more understandable for new users who had great difficulties in understanding that the pictures Picasa shows do not exist physically before one prints, mails or exports them, thanks to the hidden editing information in the picasa.ini file. One of the best features of this program.
     
     But you should indeed change the screen shot above, which bears no resemblance to the present program!
     
     Now looking forward to the final release - thank you!
123. 
     imafurby

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.43 Beta (Jul 28, 2006)

     This sucks. Don't know what it's supposed to do. I want an image viewer, not a hard drive inspector. It loads slowly and starts out by scanning my hard drive for images by default every time. (this after it locks up and crashes in the first place)
     Buggy, over engineered piece o' crud.
     Google shmoogle, use the dough that you wasted on this to put another john in your new 747, and use it to flush this down.
124. 
     mjm01010101

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.43 Beta (Jul 28, 2006)

     "To ghammer, changing DPI is non-destructive. No pixels are lost, DPI means nothing until you print a file."
     
     What do you think people do with pictures?
     
     Anyway, the DPI setting is configurable.
125. 
     RWW

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.43 Beta (Jul 28, 2006)

     Excellent software but I agree it would be used more if you could choose your hosting site. I know I would.
126. 
     photonboy

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.41 Beta (Jul 28, 2006)

     On the right track, but I like a simple Windows Explorer interface. They should completely do away with the 3D timeline.
     
     K.I.S.S. (I'm a big ACDSEE fan, but I think it's too expensive for people who only use 4% of the functionality)
127. 
     hondaman

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.41 Beta (Jul 25, 2006)

     The web photo thing is nice, its just too bad you cant pick what hosting site you want to use.
     
     4 stars because it lacks that feature.
128. 
     rhy7s

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.41 Beta (Jul 24, 2006)

     To ghammer, changing DPI is non-destructive. No pixels are lost, DPI means nothing until you print a file.
129. 
     ghammer

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.41 Beta (Jul 24, 2006)

     Nice if you only view images.
     Destructive if you make any changes at all to jpg files.
     
     Look at your original, see its size, resolution, DPI.
     
     Make any change with Picasa.
     Compare the original and the edited.
     No thanks.
     
     Nice viewer though.
130. 
     zapatero

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.41 Beta (Jul 24, 2006)

     Good to organize photos if you have them scattered over the hard disk. Not the best program to edit photos, though. Red-eye correction is too coarse, does not work for me.
131. 
     iwashere

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.41 Beta (Jul 24, 2006)

     it's an awesome photo library. at most I like the easy rotate feature that let's you fix ... with just a mouse-drag.
     also the export features are nice. you can upload to googles own blogger service, as well as export via mail. this also enables easy upload to flickr.com by mail. it integrates gmail into the program if you like that. you shoul.d do, because you can also use your contacts database from withing the program. so nice!
     what I'm missing is a way to change the tags appearance order.. dragging tags and folders around should be added. so, 4/5
132. 
     d.chertousov@gmail.com

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.41 Beta (Jul 24, 2006)

     The best software to organize photos I ever saw.
133. 
     czekar

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 22, 2006)

     Great program.
     
     Too bad the screenshot is the same g**d*** picture.
134. 
     pseudoheld

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 22, 2006)

     @ jogygeorge
     the programm lets you choose where you want to scan! just check the settings
135. 
     jogygeorge

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 22, 2006)

     One thin I dislike about this is that it behaves like every user is a newbie. Why is it forced upon us to a) scan entire PC for image files or b) scan "My Pictures" folder for images? I mean, the program can start and the screen pop up, but if I want to do neither, I should be given the third option of choosing the folder where my images are stored.
     
     Right now, it scans and then I have to sit and delete all found images before I select the folders I want ... which itself seems like some hidden option!
136. 
     Vimes

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 21, 2006)

     I enjoy using this application. I find it intuitive to use and I like how it organises all of my photos. The photo 'fix' 'tuning' and 'effects' features are simple but effective to use. The red eye correction functions well and is simple to apply.
     
     I enjoy being able to order prints via the application to an online company, that I used previous to using Picassa.
     
     Top marks for a great application.
     
     YMMV
137. 
     benZin

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 21, 2006)

     Guys, the "Picasa.ini" is always in all folders ?
138. 
     ciwir

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 21, 2006)

     Great program and Picassa Web is too great but i prefer Microsoft Digital Image Suite 2006 for
139. 
     AntiochMedia

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 21, 2006)

     Great Concept, however if I can disable Windows from placing a desktop.ini files in folders based on viewing preference, then allow me to do the same in Picasa.
140. 
     mjm01010101

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 21, 2006)

     "While this may be a drawback for some, I find it very useful. The main reason is that I store my images on my server and access them by logging in from multiple machines. This way, when I install Picasa on a client machine and point it to my P: drive (which is my networked images drive), it automatically grabs all of the information and organizes my photos on the client. Saves me from having to set up all of the same settings on every computer manually."
     
     That is what the "application files" directory, and roaming profiles is for. Settings and metadata should be stored with the user/client, not the data/server.
     
     On a separate note, I dislike the .ini files, it's sloppy.
141. 
     forgie

     Reviewing 2.5.0 Build 32.01 Beta (Jun 21, 2006)

     takes my full directory structure and turns it into a flat view requiring me to label everything and categorize again. Not worth the trouble.
142. 
     DigiSyn

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 27, 2006)

     Great features & GUI. The fact that it crashes while scanning for new pictures is what earns it a 3. So far I have not been able to find any pattern to the picture files that is on when it craps itself.
143. 
     Don Juan

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 27, 2006)

     Great program. Refused to use any programs like this until I came across this one.
144. 
     avdven

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 26, 2006)

     "Picasa.ini in all the folders..."
     
     While this may be a drawback for some, I find it very useful. The main reason is that I store my images on my server and access them by logging in from multiple machines. This way, when I install Picasa on a client machine and point it to my P: drive (which is my networked images drive), it automatically grabs all of the information and organizes my photos on the client. Saves me from having to set up all of the same settings on every computer manually.
     
     As for the software itself, I haven't found a better photo album program yet (and I've tried plenty.)
145. 
     mikeyx11

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 26, 2006)

     If all you can do is complain about how slow something is and how much space it takes up, I think it's time for you to upgrade your computer. Software should be designed to take full advantage of your computer, that's why its necessary to upgrade your computer every so often to keep up with new innovation. So stop complaining because you just have a crap computer and aren't willing to get a better one to properly run good software.
146. 
     zridling

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 26, 2006)

     Gives good face (GUI), but wastes a lot of space and is slow as cold bull snot.
147. 
     AntiochMedia

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 26, 2006)

     benZin: Thank you for letting me know before downloading. That's my only and main problem with Picasa. I'm not even bothering until that method is removed. You don't see WinAMP leaving ini files in my MP3 folders.
148. 
     benZin

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 26, 2006)

     Picasa.ini in all the folders...
149. 
     Mark Gillespie

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 26, 2006)

     Awesome, I havn't seen anything this good. Has some very inovative GUI ideas. Newbies: make sure you read the manual...
150. 
     RealNews

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.20 (May 26, 2006)

     A total silly prog.
     for what this seek at start?
151. 
     xippon

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.10 (Mar 6, 2006)

     Interesting GUI with full of effects, fast searching by typing keywords, but it miss function for drag&drop pictures to other programs etc. mayby in the next relase ?
152. 
     bsag

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.10 (Feb 4, 2006)

     One needs to understand the way Picasa works. It is not your usual editor/viewer.
     First of all, it does away with your file structure by using full Google search. Just like the internet.
     Secondly, it never modifies your originals. The edited pictures do not physically exist. They will only be created when you print, email, or otherwise export them. All the editing information is kept in a hidden file picasa.ini in the original file folder, which Picasa will use when displaying or creating the pictures. This is a tremendous advantage when you understand it, and allows you to always go back.
153. 
     forgie

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.10 (Feb 3, 2006)

     Didn't like how it paid no attention to my directory structure and caused me to spend way more time then I wanted grouping pictures. Fixed some day I hope?
154. 
     Blackhole8746

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.10 (Feb 3, 2006)

     What is this nonsense no direct SAVE button to save the changed you make to an image? What the freaking hell is this?
155. 
     horsecharles

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 31, 2006)

     Installs on ALL windows versions, properly patched of course. The only real requirement is IE5, which was released before win98se even came out. I would advise those on 9x to hold on to the earlier releases when downloading updates-- as with Skype, one never knows when the next release will stop working on the platform.
156. 
     Black-Wolf

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 31, 2006)

     This software is great but not the best.
     It does not support direct JPEG viewing when you double click on a JPEG image.
     
     I still prefer ACDSee over this.
157. 
     -enthusiast-

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 31, 2006)

     More languages has been added.
158. 
     englishmen

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 31, 2006)

     Very good program but i got this version of Filehippo on Saturday. Also why no change log?
159. 
     AntiochMedia

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     I'm a bit lazy on this. I love Picasa for all but one reason -- does Picasa still write a file a hidden database file in each directory that it touches? I don't like any application that adds data files to my harddrive outside of the install directory for that application.
160. 
     twosheds

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     This was on Versiontracker yesterday (Sunday) - don't you guys have *one* staffer for the weekend?
161. 
     pipdipchip

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     I love Picasa. At first I wasn't sure. Although I did have many digital pictures, I found most of the photo gallery apps didn't fit my needs. Picasa is the perfect match between ease of use and features. I always put my pictures on Picasa and family always know what to click in order to see all the pictures I've taken and never need to ask any questions on use. A wonderful program for anyone looking to easily organize pictures.
162. 
     publicenergy

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     Full screen preview has always been there - you press CTRL ALT.
163. 
     Dreimanis

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     from what i found out, added support for latvian language
164. 
     Cris3

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     If you want the filename for the picture to show below each image, go to Edit/Filename Caption/Filename. It doesn't show all file types, but at least the images have their name.
     Color correction is superb. Saving the picture after editing should be less daunting.
165. 
     benZin

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     Does it always place 'Picasa.ini' (hidden file) in all the folders where you have photos ?
166. 
     bouchonx

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     Another good thing "to do" in the wish list :
     
     precharge in the memory the "afined pictures"...
     The delay is very long !
167. 
     DiasVFX

     Reviewing 2.2.0 Build 28.08 (Jan 30, 2006)

     Does they add full screen mode for images?
168. 
     bouchonx

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.66 (Jan 2, 2006)

     This software is really one of the best.
     
     The only way to be the ONE is
     
     -to implement the ability to read all medias in the options (ogg, mp3) like xnview does.
     
     --to respect the folders structure (this is the only BIG default of picasa)
169. 
     Blackhole8746

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.66 (Dec 7, 2005)

     Awesome program the interface is so friendly it's astounding I own Photoshop CS2 9.0 and I have this installed and always in my system tray this chanegd my way of picture editing and managing, even sending via E-mail... This program is just awesome, I do qualify this as a MUST have and I mean MUST
170. 
     Thik Hai

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.66 (Nov 18, 2005)

     I would like to rate Picasa2 with 5 Stars if the program was only able to show all the labels assigned to a particular picture. I am sure one day it will be possible. Until then I keep on using Photoshop Album 2.0 as my main photo organizer. But I will praise the day Picasa is also able to offer this Label facility.
     Thik Hai
171. 
     photonboy

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.66 (Nov 18, 2005)

     Great, free program if it suits your needs.
     
     I don't like the way you have to browse for pictures. I prefer the ACDSee method which is similar to Windows Explorer in thumbnail mode.
172. 
     mo_mo

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.66 (Nov 17, 2005)

     i love this program
     this is one of the best photo organizer i ever seem... keep up the good work Google :)
173. 
     mrm52

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.66 (Nov 17, 2005)

     Here is a change log for those who care
     
     * Fixed corruption problem for Canon 5D RAW files (note: color balance may not be correct).
     * Fix for problems importing from a scanner.
     * Fix for problems exporting a webpage to a network drive.
     * Fix for problems exporting a webpage to 4 or 8 character folder name off of the root drive.
     * Fix for problems with special characters in your Gmail password (users would receive a "login incorrect" error).
     * Fixed hotkeys.
     * Fixed crashing on TIFF files with JPG compression.
174. 
     Lammikko

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.60 (Oct 19, 2005)

     Very slow image browsing from hard drive. Can't browse directories on fly, so you must import all your image directories. Otherwise very nice to use.
175. 
     Yogurth

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.60 (Oct 12, 2005)

     Still lacks several very important image formats like Targa(.tga). Very slow and annoying Hard Drive scanning engine. Well atleast they removed that picasa.ini trash.
     
     If You really want top-notch free image organiser, go for XnView.
     
     2 stars from me.
176. 
     Mark Gillespie

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.60 (Oct 12, 2005)

     2.0 was great 2.1 seems buggy. I can't export stuff to HTML, it worked previosly.
     
     Marking it down a notch. Otherwise, awesome software, and free.
177. 
     GeorgeSantayana

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.60 (Oct 12, 2005)

     It's one of my favorite programs.
     
     My only complaint are its lack of controls for videos. If it had better controls, I'd ditch WMP.
178. 
     horsecharles

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.60 (Oct 12, 2005)

     Another 5 for the latest substantial features and the continuous updates-- F'n A!
179. 
     twosheds

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.54 (Sep 21, 2005)

     If this ever manages to stop littering the hard drive with little index pellets I'll be happy to use it again, since otherwise it's a beauty.
180. 
     captainahab

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.54 (Sep 20, 2005)

     Picasa is the best photo organizer available. It's a nice bonus that it's also free.
181. 
     mjm01010101

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.54 (Sep 20, 2005)

     Nice interface, but dislike the .ini files wherever it find a picture. that is sloppy, 1995 Microsoft indexer type stuff.
182. 
     powaking

     Reviewing 2.1.0 Build 27.54 (Sep 20, 2005)

     Found this for the changes:
     
     Multiple interface languages – Picasa is now available in Chinese (simplified and traditional), Dutch, English (U.S. and UK) , French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. When you start Picasa, the software will automatically match your system's native language. To change the language in Picasa, go to Tools > Options. Change the language using the pulldown menu on the "General" tab. You will need to close and re-open Picasa to see your changes take effect.
     
     BlogThis! - Post a photo to your blog in one click. Picasa's new "BlogThis!" button replaces the "Blogger" button and allows you to upload your photos directly to the Blogger web editor, without the need for a Hello account. To use, select a photo in Picasa and click the "BlogThis!" button. (If you do not have a Blogger.com account, follow the steps on-screen to create one.) When you are signed in to Blogger, the web editor will open. Click "Publish" to post your photo to your blog.
     
     Print CD covers – Turn any photo into cover art. Click the "Print" button. Go to Tools > Options > Printing. Select "CD Cover Size" and apply. "CD Cover Size" is now one of the print layout choices.
     
     Improved RAW handling – Picasa supports more RAW formats and cameras in this release, with improved color-balance support and faster speed. Work with your highest quality files from these camera manufacturers: Canon (.CRW, .CR2), Nikon (.NEF), Olympus (.ORF), Pentax (.PEF), Kodak (.DCR), Sony (.SRF), Minolta (.MRW), and Fuji(.RAF). New models supported include the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (aka the 350D), Pentax *istDS, Konica/Minolta Maxxum7D (aka the Dynax 7D).
     
     External drives - Find photos on external drives using Picasa. Simply go Tools > Folder Manager to choose whether Picasa should scan a connected external drive to find pictures. When you unplug and reconnect, Picasa will find your pictures instantly (with no scanning), and will also preserve your labels
183. 
     Lammikko

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Aug 4, 2005)

     Good, but the interface is bit annoying. Too much bells and whistles. For example you can't properly hide unnecessary information on screen when viewing slideshow.
184. 
     OroKen

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 25, 2005)

     Wow!!!, this program is awesome. You can organize your pictures and you can also modify them. It is a great program. Thanks Google!!!
     
     ¡Wow!!!, Este programa es increible. Tu puedes organizar tus imagenes y también las puede modificar. Es un grandioso programa. Gracias a la gente de Google!!!
185. 
     zee7

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 24, 2005)

     Picasa is all right; slightly better than average, with a very nice interface and great blogging tools if you're into that, but FastStone Image Viewer is much better as an all around image organizer and photo tweaking tool.
186. 
     d3bruts1d

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 21, 2005)

     Never seen a better program for managing images. I've tried to keep things organized over the years, but hundreds of folders, subfolders, and more subfolders just get confusing after a while. While it isn't really an image manipulation program, but it does have a few little things that come in handy (i.e. red eye correction and crop). Easy to use right from the start. Nice job. :)
187. 
     biertjes

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 21, 2005)

     Picasa is a rahter good program but it has a very big disadvantage for only suporting ANSI character set. If you are using characters like Chinese, you'd better avoid this.
188. 
     mulberrycrush

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 21, 2005)

     Excellent software, Download it
     
     A longer review
     http://www.tekbunker.com/articles/Picassa/
189. 
     DWolf

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 19, 2005)

     Very nice program, good features, compatibility, etc. but it's a little bit slow, It's a must try program!!
190. 
     Paridine

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 18, 2005)

     Yes it does have a ZOOM option and please don't don't use these reviews to do a shameless plug of your own product.
191. 
     benZin

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Jul 5, 2005)

     Picasa from Google just to have a good look. but there is no zoom and it's slow! So I uninstalled it.
     
     And over all, I found the file 'Picasa.ini' in all the folders it had checked for images!!! A roof, the 'Picasa.ini' cannot be disabled! Argh. I imagine it's something similar to 'Thumbs.db' from Windows XP, but I hate that! Picasa can go to be reprogram!
192. 
     yuting

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (May 10, 2005)

     2.0 Still doesn't support Unicode so 4 stars.
193. 
     danilloOc

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Mar 28, 2005)

     It's a amazing program with a great interface and nice features, the only thing that don't let me use it is: it's DON'T have a tree panel, i wish it does.
194. 
     utomo

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Mar 7, 2005)

     It is good products, but google still need to improve it a lot.
     
     Some of the improvements can be done:
     - Bulk file managements: renaming, resizing, processing, and other bulk operations.
     - More Functions, such as creating custom Photo frame, noise reductions, cropping tools.
     and others.
     
     How about adding picasa forums and implement what user wants :)
195. 
     da3x

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 19, 2005)

     Picasa added many interesting new features but heavily relies on third-party (allthough google owned too) external resources for some of those features. Overall a nice and good tool for image organization.
     But PicaJet offers more when it comes to sorting images and includes many more interesting features related to that manner. They offer a free and a commercial version... you should check them out!
196. 
     zridling

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     Picasa is nice, but it's SLOW — it wants to index everything all the time, when all I want to do is look at (and sometimes edit) my photo collection! FastStone Image Viewer has a better, skinnable interface, keyboard shortcuts, startup speed, and is just as free as Picasa.
197. 
     bobad

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     Nice program. Very nice features and GUI. I prefer to use the Windows Explorer for thumbnails and organizing, and Fastone Image Viewer for quick viewing, but I could get used to Picasa. If it had a better method to quickly view pictures in full screen (without using the slide show) it would be great. I'll stick to Windows Explorer and FastStone Image Viewer for now, but will continue to keep an eye on Picasa.
198. 
     jangofett

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     absolutely incredible! picasa has it all! excellent gui (although there are somethings that could be better placed, like making an image your wallpaper from the right click menu), auto resizing when printing, pretty good editing tools for the home user, email, integration with Hello, auto scans, etc, etc, i could go on but you get it. we have removed all other photo image editors and viewers that we have ever had or downloaded. the buck stops with Picasa....now if they would only release a linux version....
199. 
     yokozuna

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     ghammer, I allow to disagree with you. I use the combination of Picasa and FastStone Image Viewer (www.faststone.org, contrary to the name, it can EDIT pictures pretty well). Honestly speaking, I use Photoshop too :) Picasa is perfect for indexing, burning CDs with photos, etc., but if you want to use it as a standalone app for everything it can be kinda disappointing. Anyway, I give it five points.
200. 
     ghammer

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     Excellent! xnview, irfanview? Why would I want just a viewer when I can have Picassa?
     
     I love the email capability and the straighten is great.
     
     Give it a try, you'll be well pleased.
201. 
     Pipewrench

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     Best free Photo software ever.
     
     Better than Photoshop Elements which costs $80.
     
     I use it daily. Good stuff!
202. 
     alister

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     darkpepe -- XnView is only a view/converter while Picasa allows you to touch up your photos (ie: remove red eye, etc....). I can view pictures on Windows XP without XnView. XnView is basically worthless. Picasa is get great program for doing minor touchups to photos.
     
     Alister
203. 
     darkpepe

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.84 (Feb 18, 2005)

     Nice GUI, but not worth the download. Use XnView instead. (freeware, better than irfanview)
204. 
     klumy

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 28, 2005)

     Excellent program
205. 
     Dony76

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 20, 2005)

     Nice tool, I love it, but for fast picture browsing there is still Irfanview, which was the reason I kicked ACDSee.
     I would love to see an option to make nice HTML-Pages for your website with it. But on the other side - that's already included in Irfanview
206. 
     arvind

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 20, 2005)

     An absolute gem of a software. Google rules!
207. 
     hardgiant

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 19, 2005)

     Cool effects and all but the picture quality is really bad. I also really hate programs that have another skin on top of Windows XP theme.
     
     Probably stick to ACDsee for most chores and will use this ounce in awhile.
208. 
     zridling

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     Pixelsmack makes some good points, among them the fact that ACDSee 7.x is more suited to viewing and sorting more photos in quicker ways. The fact that it's freeware is irrelevant to its quality — everything from Google is free — and for freeware, this is outstanding. But overall, it's biggest problem is its lack of options — Picasa forces you to do what it wants to do, not what you need it to do.
     
     THE NOT SO GOOD: I'm no fan of Picasa's indexing — many image apps do this now, PicaJet does it faster and offers many more options; Picasa's zoom feature is not sticky and the zoom transparency remains onscreen until you go back to its own zoom level, and during a slideshow, photos are consistently fuzzy; it lacks some keyboard shortcuts that would be helpful; the editing tools pane is too wide to allow a 1024x768 photo to fully display on screen in 1:1 mode; scrolling is slow, sometimes more sluggish than it should be; finally, its editing and navigational features are lacking basic features other apps share.
     
     NOW THE GOOD: Google took an eccentric app in its first version and made it noticeably better. The quality of its thumbnails alone are unmatched and aid browsing. The printing and blogging features, along with the ability to make a movie out of your photos is stunning. Finally, its search capabilities are amazing. In short, Go Google Go!
209. 
     chimpypimpy

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     Absolutely perfect. Thank you Google.
210. 
     BklynKid

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     Nice surprise. I tried Picasa1 but for some reason it didn't exactly stick.
     
     This however is great, and I can't see how I ever got along without it, or how I didn't continue using it after the first time I tried it.
     
     Nice smooth and intuitive interface (the scrolling dragger in the middle is an awesome idea!), everything transitions smoothly and the interface is just clean and everything is easy to find and do. The Gmail integration has been done great and the way everything is bundled together just makes you smile as you make your way through everything this program can do.
     
     An unquestionable 5 out of 5.
211. 
     Pixelsmack

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     It's a damn fine program. But one needs to understand that it is not the kind of program you'd use to quickly look at a bunch of pics in a folder.
     
     This is mainly because you need to launch Picasa first, then browse. A program like ACD (or similar) is much more suited for fast viewing of files when you're searching around in your [Windows] folders. i.e. double click the image and, boom, you're instantly seeing that image full screen. Then a flick of the mouse wheel you're seeing the next one.
     
     Picasa is to images what iTunes is to music. A great picture manager and even decent editor.
     
     Whenever friends or family come over and want to see the pictures; Picasa is the new digital photo album. It does a wonderful job quickly presenting your images. Either using the fast and intuitive thumbnail mode or the gnarly timeline mode. That mode always gets the most, "oohs and ahhs".
     
     The new file formats 2.0 supports are most welcome. Especially the RAW format support; for most popular RAW capable cameras. Picasa 2.0 offers some of the fastest viewing of RAW images I have ever seen. It takes my 6.3mp RAW images from my Canon Digital Rebel and has them displayed in under half-a-second!
     
     One MAJOR disapointment though is still the lack of 16-bits-per-channel support for PSD files.
     
     Whenever one gets to editing their RAW files in Photoshop you want to save in PSD as it offers the best quality while retaining your layers and compatibility with other PSD readers. Not having that ability to preivew images with Picasa's impressive viewer is a let down.
     
     Hopefully in an update they can address this. Hopefully, now that 2.0 is out, updates will come faster too.
     
     I also like that they offer email support similar to Apple's Music Store. You fill out a form and 48 hours later or sooner you get a response.
     
     Considering that some companies CHARGE you for any kind of support after a certain ammount of time or don't even offer email support; this is a welcome addition for a *free* program.
     
     Overall great work and look forward to seeing more!
     
     P.S. Remember...it's F R E E ! !
212. 
     pvolk

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     Wow Simply an incredible program and much better than Picasa 1. Its integration with Gmail is seemless and impressive. Its got a great, cool, smooth interface, plenty of new features; overall a great picture organizing program for everyone!
213. 
     martboonen

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     Amazing...
     This program will grow big, very fast.
     
     And in some way in the future they Google will probably make a lot of money with it, but really. At this moment: Amazing program. Try it, use it and save it somewhere.
214. 
     yohimbe9

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     This one is a much better improvement over the last one. I like the fact that it scans movies, too. But I don't like the fact that the first time it launches i'm not given the option to NOT scan any folders or at least choose the ones that I want. Otherwise, great job Google!
215. 
     scorcho

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     Raven Sati:
     
     turn off 'check for updates' if you're worried about the program pinging back to Google's servers. also turn off the automatic media detection to remove the tray icon on startup.
     
     the program is great and a vast improvement over the first Picasa. it wallops Adobe Photo Deluxe and the fact that Picasa 2 is free is only icing on the cake.
216. 
     Raven Sati

     Reviewing 2.0.0 Build 18.77 (Jan 18, 2005)

     Read about all the hassles with spyware and adware with this little dog on this blog -
     
     http://google.weblogsinc.../entry/4855307085341518/
     
     I had the same experience - a machine full of crap.
217. 
     mliviua

     Reviewing 1.6.18 Build 5.35 (Sep 24, 2004)

     No Zoom.
218. 
     arvind

     Reviewing 1.6.18 Build 5.35 (Sep 16, 2004)

     WOW! I'm very impressed! Definately the BEST photo manager out there........looks classy, loads of features and easy use..........the best, period.
219. 
     infinitejones

     Reviewing 1.6.18 Build 5.35 (Jul 24, 2004)

     Wow. Incredible. It looks great, it's classy, it's obscenely easy to use, the HTML albums it creates are brilliant (although if it could do two columns with css rather than frames, it would be perfect) and best of all it's freeware - it's not even trying to sell you something else as far as I can tell! Highly recommended, even for browsing a few family snaps.
220. 
     kuyawsadabaw

     Reviewing 1.6.18 Build 5.35 (Jul 24, 2004)

     I really like the interface of this program. Adding Hello to the package only made it better. If only Hello would pack in the P2P power of PixVillage (pixvillage.com)...
221. 
     muka3d

     Reviewing 1.618 Build 5.26 (Jul 22, 2004)

     Simply the best photo manager for the PC. This is the iPhoto of the PC world.

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