14 DAY TRIAL // Google added to its big picture today with the release of Picasa 2 photo management software. The new release is a major upgrade from the first version, which it acquired when it purchased its developer, also named Picasa in July 2004. The original Picasa software wasn't free, but the new and improved software version is.
Picasa 2 offers more than just the ability to find and index digital images on a user's hard drive. Basic photo manipulation tools are also available, with options such as red-eye removal and light editing also thrown in.
Picasa 2 also lets users automatically post photos onto a blog and features integration with Gmail so users can send photos automatically.
When Picasa 2 opens, it automatically finds all pictures on the computer and sorts them by date.
Google's motives for providing this software totally free are currently unclear. Presumably the fact it can integrate with other Google systems is one part of this, as users will start to see Google as more than just a search engine.
According to Tech News World, Kurt Scheff, principal analyst at Parks Associates has commented: "Google has a really interesting play away from Internet search. Given the amount of multimedia content that we expect consumers to be downloading, storing and aggregating in the next few years, the ability of them to more easily find, edit, personalize and share this content is going to be critical"
On Softpedia.com Picasa 2 is rated as Very Good with 4.4 points out of 5 and is also a Softpedia Pick. It's a tiny download at around 3MB, so you don't have much to lose and you may find it here