nibornm

Q: el capitan and the inferior Photo app

I'm interested in upgrading from OS X 10.7.5 to OS X El Capitan but abhor the feeble software (Photo) which was supposed to improve on iPhoto.

On the contrary, so many great features, as simple as keyboard shortcuts and as helpful as revealing the jpeg file in the finder, were removed from Photo.

I could go on but will resist the temptation.

 

Question:

Can I upgrade to OS X El Capitan, keep my iPhotos app, which I know and love, complete with its 44,500 photos and avoid the replacement of iPhoto with the crummy, why did Apple think this was an improvement, Photos app?

 

Many thanks.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5), GarageBand 6.0.5 (428.5)

Posted on Sep 7, 2016 10:28 PM

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Q: el capitan and the inferior Photo app

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  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Sep 7, 2016 10:44 PM in response to nibornm
    Level 7 (25,664 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 7, 2016 10:44 PM in response to nibornm

    Yes, as long as the version of iPhoto that you are using is a 9.x version. Once you install El Cap, you can go to your App Store>Purchases and click on the iPhoto app to reinstall it.

     

    Your iPhoto library remains intact as it is used to build your Photos library.

     

    I have El Capitan, and I still have iPhoto and Aperture as well as Photos. I used to primarily use iPhoto, but over time I have moved to using Photos almost exclusively. Photos has great built in editing functionality as well as the bonus of providing an option within editing to launch extensions like Snapseed, Sketcher, FX Pro, etc.

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by Terence Devlin,

    Terence Devlin Terence Devlin Sep 7, 2016 11:08 PM in response to nibornm
    Level 10 (139,475 points)
    iLife
    Sep 7, 2016 11:08 PM in response to nibornm

    I would caution you that iPhoto is a dead end. There will be a version of the OS that comes along where it simps will not run. We have no idea when that might be. Photos is maturing quickly. Some things (like reveal in finder) are not available in all circumstances (and for very good reason) but it a more powerful application than iPhoto in many ways. If you do upgrade it is worth checking out.

     

    That said, I don't warm to it myself. If you don't like Photos then time to consider an alternative as now is the time to move on from iPhoto, wherever you go. If you wait until it just doesn't work then you'll have a right mess on your hands.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 8, 2016 2:18 AM in response to gail from maine
    Level 10 (105,636 points)
    iLife
    Sep 8, 2016 2:18 AM in response to gail from maine
    Yes, as long as the version of iPhoto that you are using is a 9.x version. Once you install El Cap, you can go to your App Store>Purchases and click on the iPhoto app to reinstall it.

    Unfortunately, iPhoto 9.x alone is not sufficient, Gail.  To be precise, the version of Photos needs not only be iPhoto '11, version 9.x, it needs to be associated with the AppleID at the AppStore. That will be the case, if iPhoto has been purchased from the App Store or came preinstalled with a Mac, that had no system install media, like a new Mac that came with OS X 10.7.x preinstalled. If nibornm's Mac came with an older system and iPhoto has been installed from an iLife installer disk or a system install disk, iPhoto will not appear on the Purchases tab of the AppStore.

    It is essential that nibornm will check the Purchases history at the AppStore before the upgrade to El Capitan, to see, if iPhoto can be updated to iPhoto 9.6.1 by reinstalling at all. If iPhoto is not in the Purchases history, it can only be updated to iPhoto 9.4.5, compatible with Lion and Mt. Lion.

     

    It has been possible to associate the older iPhoto versions with the AppleID, when Apple released the first iphoto updates, that were AppStore only. It happened, when Mavericks came out. But that is no longer possible since the release of Photos in February 2015.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Sep 8, 2016 7:28 AM in response to léonie
    Level 7 (25,664 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 8, 2016 7:28 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks for the clarification Léonie! I did not know that, so a new bit of knowledge to tuck away

     

    I appreciate your input on this thread, and I'm glad the OP has this additional info!

     

    GB

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Sep 8, 2016 7:34 AM in response to gail from maine
    Level 10 (105,636 points)
    iLife
    Sep 8, 2016 7:34 AM in response to gail from maine

    You're welcome, Gail. I'm learning from your posts too. The things we can learn here from each other are making these forums great.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Sep 8, 2016 12:04 PM in response to léonie
    Level 7 (25,664 points)
    iCloud
    Sep 8, 2016 12:04 PM in response to léonie

    I couldn't agree more!

     

    GB