Hmm…

Windows Live Photo Gallery vs. Picasa?

Both seem to be very similar on features. both allow organisation of photos, syncing with online albums, tagging, all that jazz. Windows Live gives you 25gb of storage (although I believe that is shared with whatever else you use on SkyDrive) while Google lets you have a measly 7.5gb (although that’s more than most users need for normal use, and you can purchase more).

I haven’t actually installed Picasa yet, but I’ll give it a try later on. The problem with both of these, though, is neither will recognise my RAW files from my camera, as Canon don’t seem to recognise that there are many users using 64-bit OSes. So for now, my RAW support is limited to Photoshop and Lightroom. Not a bad thing, however, as it’s let me have a much reduced selection to view and tinker with, with only my edited and completed pictures, and other general snaps from my phone, and other people’s cameras. This is quite handy as it lets me sift through my better photos, while the ones I disliked and didn’t bother to edit don’t show up in the gallery (I never delete them).

So where does Flickr come in? I’ve used it for a while just as a sort of portfolio of my favourite pictures. I can remember the URL easily, so it’s easy to show people work, and it gives you a decent amount of space, although resolution is limited unless you get a pro account. However, aside from the “Flickr Uploadr”, they don’t have an organisation tool, with all the organisation expected to be performed on the actual site. This is fine, but if you have your edited photos around various organised-by-date folders, then you can forget to upload stuff after you’re finished post-processing. I believe there is a plugin for Lightroom, though, which might do the job. I also see that Live Photo Gallery has an option to upload to Flickr, so it may turn out that that is the best option.

I shall download Picasa and have a play now. From what I can see right now though, it may be that Microsoft will win this one. Shocker!