First impressions of Apple’s up and coming Photos app for OS-X Yosemite were just announced by a number of publications with Apple lifting it’s embargo for media outlets to publish first impressions and hands-on reviews. the final Photos product will be delivered to Mac users as part of a free software update this spring with the 10.10.3 release of Yosemite.
Photos for OS X will be a significant improvement for users in the Apple ecosystem and will be a familiar experience for most Mac users. Power users will be impressed with the several photo parameters that can be adjusted. It will handle large photo libraries much better alongside more powerful photo editing, sharing and syncing options. It will be less confusing to use than iPhoto thanks to an improved iCloud-based approach. However, Photos for OS X may still be more suitable for beginners than professionals with it’s intuitive controls and ease-of-use.
Thus, the resulting product will likely feel like an improvement for most iPhoto users, though users of Aperture’s more powerful editing and organizational features are likely to find it lacking and thus, might still opt for professional software.
Photos for OS X also gives up some iPhoto features, however, including flags, star ratings, events, round-trip editing in other apps and sorting albums by keyword, title and rating. Many professional options from Aperture are also missing.
Overall, Photos for OS X appears to be a significant improvement for users migrating from iPhoto, but a step down in functionality for those coming from Aperture. Nonetheless Photos for OS X with it’s intuitive and easy-to-use photo edit controls will be an ideal photo management and editing solution for most Mac users. Here is a short overview of Photos for OSX Yosemite.
