Apple announced last year in a long anticipated move that it would cease development of Aperture, its pro photo editing application, and iPhoto, and replace both with Photos for OS X. While Apple has only said that Photos for OS X will be released this spring, it is becoming clear that day is quickly coming.

First, Apple sent an e-mail today reminding Aperture users that Aperture support is ending and that, with the release of Photos for OS X, Aperture will no longer be available for purchase. Moreover, Apple is running a public beta of Yosemite 10.10.3, which includes Photos for OS X. Public betas generally come close to final release. You can participate in the beta but be aware installing this beta will overwrite your current operating system and you do this at your own risk.

Based on my experience so far, Photos for OS X is not Aperture. See MacWorld’s First Look: Photos for OS X Brings Easier Navigation and More Powerful Editing. Photos for OS X incorporates many features of Photos for iOS. Its interface is simpler than Aperture and available adjustments, while powerful and more numerous than iPhoto, are fewer and not as sophisticated. It also includes some new features allowing you to create books, cards, and slideshows and your photos can be synchronized between different devices using iCloud (although you may need to pay for increased storage on iCloud if your library is larger than five gigabytes)..

If you are using Aperture or iPhoto to manage and edit your images, it’s time to start thinking about what your are going to do and how you are going to make the transition from Aperture or iPhoto to Aperture.

Editor’s Note: If you need to make the switch from iPhoto or Aperture to Lightroom, the School of Creative Photography can help you. Our Lightroom class is scheduled for April 25 and 26, 2015, in Sterling, VA, and will get you up to speed quickly on managing and editing your images in Lightroom. If you are already using Lightroom and want to learn more about its advanced features, the School of Creative Photography is offering an advanced Lightroom class on May 2, 2015, in Sterling, VA.

05 Mar This entry was written by bjzwit and published on March 5, 2015 at 3:47 pm. It’s filed under Editing Images and tagged aperture, iphoto, lightroom. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.