Google Kills Desktop-Centric Picasa In Favor Of Google Photos

by Brandon Hill — Saturday, February 13, 2016, 03:49 PM EDT

Picasa had a long run, but it’s time for the software application to say goodnight. Picasa came into existence over a decade ago in 2002, and became a popular destination for people looking to organize their vast library of photos and photos. This, however, was before “the cloud” took over for our mass storage needs. In 2004, Google acquired Picasa and has maintained the service ever since.

Google Photos launched last May as an offshoot of Google+ Photos and has blossomed into a well-rounded, cloud-centric photo and video management service. And rather than keep devoting resources to Picasa in an effort to adapt it to the needs of today’s desktop and mobile users, Google has decided to kill it instead.

“After much thought and consideration, we’ve decided to retire Picasa over the coming months in order to focus entirely on a single photo service in Google Photos,” wrote Google Photos chief Anil Sabharwal. “We believe we can create a much better experience by focusing on one service that provides more functionality and works across mobile and desktop, rather than divide our efforts across two different products.”

So what happens to Picasa now? Well, if you use the Picasa Web Album, you’ll find all of your photos and videos already available in Google Photos. If you’re a diehard Picasa Web Album user and aren’t too keen on using Google Photos, well, that’s your choice. However, you will no longer be able to create, organize or edit albums starting May 1^st, 2016.

If you rely on the Picasa desktop application, Google says that it will end support as of March 15^th, 2016. You won’t be able to download the application and Google will no longer offer additional updates. If you choose to use Google Photos in the future, you can use the accompanying desktop uploader to send your photo archive to the cloud.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this transition causes, but we want to assure you that we are doing this with the aim of providing the best photos experience possible,” Sabharwal continues. “Google Photos is a new and smarter product, that offers a better platform for us to build amazing experiences and features for you in the future.”

Tags: PIcasa, (nasdaq:goog), google photos

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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