Microsoft Max Competes With Picassa

Currently in a public beta, Microsoft Max is new software that lets you make lists of your photos, turn them into slide shows, and share them with your friends (well, if they have Max) And that’s about it — for now….or so the  website claims ("Tomorrow…who knows?", they tease). Clearly introduced to compete with Google’s Picasa, Microsoft Max has potential, but it looks like it got pushed out the door before it was ready. I mean, emailing slide shows is nice, but that’s it? Picasa can do so much more. However, that being said, Microsoft Max is visually pretty slick. That’s because it’s built on Windows Vista’s WinFX programming interface. It’s a little piece of Vista you can download for free, and that alone may make it worth checking out — especially if you’ve been dying to get a peek at those 3-D graphics (check out the "Mantle" view in Max). But be warned…this is no quick 30-second install. This is one of those long, drawn-out, reboot-required installs. Before you bother, make sure your system meets the hardware requirements:

• 1.0 gigahertz (GHz) processor
• 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM
• 200 MB of available hard disk space
• Super VGA (800 x 600) resolution monitor

When it comes down to it, Picasa wins it for me…for now. I’m willing to give other programs a shot. (Slide was nice, for example). But really it’s all about integration. Microsoft Max integrates with your Passport account. Picasa integrates with your Gmail. These powerhouses are drawing lines in the sand and asking you to pick sides. They all want to win, but when they compete like this, I worry that it’s us who lose. Without spending the time making any one product great, they are just going to be throwing stuff at us faster and faster in an effort to one-up their competition. Meanwhile, we’re living in a world where we’re stuck with running 5 instant messenger programs, or giving up on the extra features of IM in order to run a universal messenger. Competition is healthy to a point, but I’m starting to see the beginnings of a war. It’s cola wars for the new millenium — who will win? Microsoft? Google?….Yahoo!?