Mac users don't have much by way of photo organizing programs. iPhoto dominates on the scene, and the other, lesser known, programs don't receive as much attention - both from Mac users and programmers. PC users, on the other hand, have so many choices for photo organizing programs that it can be a bit overwhelming. Many swear by Google's Picasa, and I never understood the fascination, until they released a Mac version this week.

Hot on the heels of many other Apple-related announcements happening at MacWorld this week, Google released Picasa for Macs.

I'm not an advanced photographer by any means. I use basic photo editing in iPhoto, and I occasionally open Photoshop to take care of more serious problems in photos. Very rarely do I need to do any advanced editing, so, in a way, I'm the average user when it comes to organizing and editing photos.

I like to think of myself as a highly organized person: every file has a folder, and every folder and file are clearly labeled. But this organization doesn't carry over into my photo collection.

It's just too massive.

iPhoto is slow, and it lags, even on my fairly new iMac. I simply have too many photos, and the task of organizing them in iPhoto is not an easy one, especially with the new features Apple keeps releasing. So, for organizing, iPhoto has failed me.

I only have access to my photos through iPhoto, I can't access them directly through the file structure. Organizing them can be a slow and tedious process, but with Picasa, organizing them in a breeze. Especially since when you first start Picasa, it asks you where you would like to import photos from. It successfully found every single image file on my computer.

Picasa isn't overloaded with dozens of features I won't use or enjoy: it has the basic features almost all home users need, in a way that is easy to access and doesn't bog down your computer.

But don't be fooled by Picasa's sleek appearance and quick run time: it also has the abilities to do basic photo editing, as well as make collages, upload to blogs, and make movies.

What would make the average iPhoto user switch to Picasa? What is so special about it that could draw Mac lovers away from an Apple product that has been a staple in their software collection for years?

The primary attractions to Picasa for users that could motivate them to switch are many, but here are some that have persuaded me to consider switching:

- Picasa has simple, effective file organization based on folders, or albums.

- Picasa is integrated easily with Picasa Web Albums. This feature doesn't appeal to me that much, as I'm a Pro Flickr user - but it may attract others.

- Picasa loads much faster than iPhoto because it isn't actually loading all of your photos: it's loading information about where they are on your hard drive.

- Photo editing features meet the needs of basic users - but also allow you to add text. The "I'm Feeling Lucky" auto adjust feature is pretty handy as well - it doesn't over or under adjust your images. (iPhoto has similar features) Check out the before and after:

The bottom line is, Picasa does a lot of the things that iPhoto does - only it does it without making my computer run at the speed of a computer running Windows 95, and it has great organizational features. Namely, the ability to organize using a folder structure that you can actually access on your computer, rather than only through the program.

My photos are no longer being held captive by iPhoto! They are free to roam.