Google Photos cuts out Plus to make the app we really wanted

The most striking part of the just released (on the web, iOS and Android) Google Photos is how familiar it feels if you've already been using Photos in Google+, or before that,Picasa. The biggest change I noticed early on is that by separating Photos from its attempt to launch yet another social network, Google is starting focus on stuff that both benefits its users, and that it does well: cloud storage and using information to narrow down searches. Now, it's a perfect fit for how most people use cameras everyday, from the ones in their phones to point-and-shoots (but maybe not your DSLR). With unlimited storage and machine learning that can link photos by the people in them or where they were taken it's ready to make sense of your massive image library..

The tagline is "organized by what matters" and it refers to Photos ability to pull together geotagging information (if available) or just look at your pictures and figure out where they were taken by the landmarks in them. Most importantly, this information is private -- Photos is a private library where you can curate and edit your pictures, and then share as needed. That said, it is creepily good at identifying people (you can turn that off in the settings), even if it doesn't know who they really are. With my photos, it tracked pictures of my nieces as they grew over several years and still identified them accurately. According to the FAQ, it uses "face models" to group similar photos together. Its ability to ID objects wasn't quite as good -- apparently many of my shoes register as cars or buildings, but it was mostly on point.

One element I liked was its ability to create a sharable link to a picture, which you can then go back and kill later without deleting the photo, or just track which links have been created. Of course, it's also ready to share pictures directly to services like Twitter and Facebook (or Google+) without a problem. A Google Now-like "Assistant" feature tips you off when the app is ready to build out a new collection or collage, and even has the familiar cards setup.

Many of the features that were introduced on Google+ are here too, like Auto Awesomethat quickly tweaks images to look their best and highlight faces, create animations from a series of successive shots or automatically create Stories from a place or event. By pulling these features out of Google+, it makes them more logical to use even if the friends you'll be sharing them to are on a different service. The usual light photo editing tools are also included, like cropping or adjusting levels.

What to expect from Google I/O today

Android will take center stage, but there's so much more

Google's I/O 2015 conference starts Thursday with a monster 2.5-hour keynote. Android M, the next major version of Google's mobile operating system, is likely to lead the way. You can expect Google to run through its usual showcase of Android's latest and greatest features on stage, and it's likely the company will shine a similar spotlight on Android Wear and Android Auto.

Android M: Google's own I/O schedule confirmed that we'll be seeing a new version of Android at the keynote. After giving Android a huge visual overhaul with Lollipop, we expect the next iteration to focus on refining Material Design further, squashing bugs, and improving performance. More powerful voice controls are likely on the agenda, and knowing Google, the company will probably also boast about longer-than-ever battery life. If the company follows last year's pattern, we'll have to wait a few months before finding out what the "M" stands for. But on the plus side, it's likely you'll be able to install a preview build of Android for Nexus 6 very soon after the keynote wraps.

More privacy controls: Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Google is planning to give Android users greater control over apps and exactly what data they're able to access (location, contacts, photos, et cetera). Android already presents a list of requested permissions whenever you download an app from Google Play, but this approach will reportedly be adjusted to let users "pick and choose what an app can access."

Fingerprints: Last week, BuzzFeed reported that Android M will introduce full-fledged support for fingerprint authentication, letting users log into apps like Gmail and Google Drive with the press of a thumb. The Galaxy S6 proved that fingerprint scanners on Android phones don't have to suck, and soon they'll be even better. Expect Google to embrace this and move closer to offering its own take on Apple's Touch ID; obviously manufacturers will need to include the hardware on their phones and tablets, but the deep-level support will make that decision far easier.

Android Wear: It was just over one year ago when Google unveiled a version of Android designed for your wrist. Since then, the company has been working rapidly to bring new features and improvements to Android Wear. The roster of devices running Google's wearables OS has steadily grown in the last year, though we're still waiting for the second iteration of Motorola's Moto 360. The timing is almost right, but an I/O debut is by no means guaranteed.

Android Auto: Similarly, Google will likely have plenty to say about its mission of putting Android into cars. Automaker partnerships are critical to that effort, so Google could have some news to share there. Over the last year, we've also seen rumors that Google has loftier ambitions that go far beyond the tacked-on experience offered by Android Auto (and Apple's CarPlay) today. But I/O will likely be more about building more momentum for the current product.

Android Pay: Isis (Softcard) is dead, and no one is benefitting from that more than Google. The company has formed a deep partnership with Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile — something that was unthinkable just a few years ago — to make Google Wallet the new standard for mobile payments on Android devices. We expect to hear more about Google's grand vision for taking on the wallet (and Apple Pay) at I/O. Whether the Google Wallet brand will stick around is unclear, as Google may opt for a simpler, familiar name in Android Pay.

Google Photos: Google is breaking out one of Google+'s best features into its own product.We expect Google Photos to carry forward some of the existing service's best ideas (automatic GIFs and "Auto Awesome" photo enhancements) while trying to appeal to a broader market of consumers. Shedding the Google+ connection is one great way to accomplish that. How much will it cost? Right now Google offers unlimited storage of regular-sized images for free, and it's one of our favorite photo backup options as a result. The stand-alone version just might top our list.

Project Fi: Google is now a mobile phone carrier — if you happen to own a Nexus 6. With Project Fi invites slowly trickling out, I/O presents the company with another good opportunity to demonstrate the pay-for-what-you-use phone service that seamlessly hops between Wi-Fi and two major US networks (Sprint and T-Mobile).

Internet of Things: With mobile devices, wearables, and automobiles already checked off, Google will reportedly next turn its attention to household appliances. The company is said to be planning a big entry into the Internet of Things, and at I/O we're expecting to hear more about the software Google has created to control all of these various low-power gadgets.

Cardboard: Is virtual reality becoming more than a fun experiment for Google? Last month's announcement of the Works with Cardboard program shows that Mountain View is looking to the future with its answer to the Oculus Rift and Samsung's own VR project. But experience is key, and so far Google hasn't really produced any compelling reasons for strapping a smartphone onto your face. I/O should provide some clues as to how serious Google is about virtual reality — or whether it'll forever remain a side pursuit.

CARDBOARD REMAINS A FUN EXPERIMENT FOR NOW

Google Cast: The $35 Chromecast is one of the best devices that Google has ever made, and it's led developers to quickly embrace the company's AirPlay rival. With video pretty well covered, Google has recently put a bigger emphasis on music with the introduction of Google Cast for Audio. The I/O stage seems a natural place to reveal new speakers that support Google's tech. And a Chromecast 2 seems inevitable; the only question is when.

Chrome: It's no secret that Android and Chrome OS are moving toward one another. And while they're likely to remain separate for the foreseeable future, Google has every interest in making its operating systems play nice together. You can bet the company will demonstrate the benefits of this cohesive strategy that blends the web and mobile. I/O could also produce some surprise Chromebook announcements ahead of back-to-school season.

Linux vs. Windows

Linux vs Windows has been a subject of debate since the inception of computers.

This article highlights the pros and cons of both the operating systems, given a set of requirements, it also attempts to show you which OS would be best suited for you. I have made an attempt to write this article without much tech-laden jargon, so for those of you are not very computer savvy, it will help you make informed decisions.

For this article, I will be comparing Windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04 – The most popular Linux distribution.
We will be comparing the operating systems from an average user’s perspective and not that of a  systems administrator.

Let me begin with an introduction of the Linux operating system as I imagine many of you must be pretty new to this. In fact, a common misconception is that Linux is ‘ridiculously complicated’. While I admit getting used to Linux may take a while for an average windows user, it is definitely easy to use.
Linux comes in various flavours, also known as ‘distributions’. The most popular Linux distribution is ‘Ubuntu’, pronounced as ‘oo-boon-tu‘.
You may notice that there are more screenshots of Ubuntu than  Windows 7, since I presume that everyone reading this would already be familiar with Windows 7

So lets being the comparison:

1) Look and feel -

Here is the home screen of  windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.04

Since the ‘look and feel’ is a personal choice, I leave it up to you to decide which is better.
Personally, I try not to pay attention to the looks of the operating system so much as the functionality and the features.

2) Bundled software -
Windows 7 by default has very minimal software set, the basic features that we need – word processor, spread sheet and a presentation software are not present. You’ll have to purchase and install the MS Office suite separately, this is something that should be bundled with the operating system. The question I ask is “What good is an operating system, if it doesn’t provide the basic features?”

On the other hand  Ubuntu 12.04 comes with the LibreOffice suite (a Microsoft Office Equivalent) preinstalled. It also has F-spot, an image editing program that and an Instant messaging client called Empathy – that has chat provisioning for Facebook, G-Talk, Yahoo,MSN and VOIP capabilities all under a single application.

Drivers – One of the biggest advantages of Linux is its built-in driver set, or rather the ability of automatically downloading and installing them. This includes the drivers for your webcam, Wi-Fi, Ethernet Card, even your printer or scanner! We all know drivers is a big pain that comes when completing a fresh install of Windows 7. With Linux, there is rarely any need to download the drivers manually. Linux also has the ability to download proprietary drivers (The ones from Nvidia and ATI), unlike windows where we have to manually download and install a driver for everything.

3) Media -
Windows comes with Windows media player, which is pretty much useless without codecs, as majority of the videos/movies that we watch require codecs like Xvid. So there is a need to download a codec pack before Windows media player becomes fully functional.

Ubuntu is bundled with Movie Player, and also requires downloading codecs.
However, in both the operating systems, it is very easy to watch videos by simply installing VLC media player.

4) Installing third party software – When it comes to installing third party software, the steps required to install a software in Ubuntu is considerably less. An illustration is shown here of installing software in Ubuntu.

Ubuntu has a utility called Ubuntu software centre. This is one of the most loved features by Ubuntu users. It is as simple as installing an app in your phone from iTunes store or Android Market (now rebranded to Google Play). Just select the software that you need, hit install, and the software is ready to use.

It is clear from the screen shots, that installing software in Ubuntu is a lot simpler than it is in windows. Moreover, Ubuntu will check for any dependencies that the software needs and it will be installed automatically.

However, an argument can be made for computers that don’t have internet access, ease of installing software in Windows outmatches as that of Ubuntu, as it is viewed a very complicated process that includes the terminal (command line interface). Although, it is very unlikely that someone will be without internet access these days.

5) Minimum Requirements -
Windows 7 requires a minimum of 1000 Mhz processor with 1GB of RAM, while Ubuntu requires a minimum of 700 Mhz processor with 384MB RAM. While these are the official requirements, in practice, the requirements are considerably higher. From my experience, If you install both the operating systems on identical hardware, Ubuntu’s performance is significantly higher than that of Windows 7.
In fact, if you were to pull out a 7 year old computer from a junkyard, Ubuntu will work flawlessly.
Moreover, the boot time of Ubuntu is considerably less than its Windows 7 counterpart.

6) Security -
I have been using Windows since windows the days of Windows 95, and I can tell you that Windows 7 has some pretty good security features that, if implemented properly, can give you quite a secure system to work with. Its firewall has advanced features that you can configure. However, there are many who believe that Windows still remains a weak operating system from a security standpoint.

Linux on the other hand , has always been a secure operating system since the early days. It has often been the subject of debate that an open source operating system cannot be as secure as a proprietary one, but Linux has proved  that belief to be untrue. Overall, I believe that Linux offers much more security by default.

Access Privileges -   Linux by default does not run as a root (the Windows ‘administrator’ equivalent)
This ensures that any automated program or script cannot make changes to the system without explicit
privileges from the user. Although Windows has implemented a similar mechanism called ‘User Account Control or UAC’, Which does provide good protection although not as robust as Linux does.

Viruses - Viruses and other malware continue to be a constant headache for windows users. Combating viruses is not only time consuming, but also expensive when we talk about using Windows in a large scale production environment. Moreover, there is always a need to purchase expensive antivirus software with yearly subscriptions, punching additional holes in your pocket.

Linux on the other hand has significantly less number of viruses, so you are considerable less likely to get infected.
In fact, I am yet to hear this from a friend or a fellow systems administrator, that they are using Linux, and that it has been infected! am sure most administrators or users  must have had a similar experience.

Overall Security - Overall,  I believe that Linux will always be much more secure than Windows operating system given the fact that its open-source.
It would interest you to know that there is something called as the ‘Linus Law’ – named after the creator of the Linux kernel Linus Torvalds , which states : 

In simple terms it means given a large number of developers and beta testers, every problem will be identified quickly and that the solution of that problem will be obvious to someone.  I completely agree with this.

7) Availability of Software -
Since Ubuntu/Linux has a relatively less market share, availability of popular software for Ubuntu is a major concern. Some users are forced to stay with windows since their favourite software is not available on the Linux platform.Though this has recently changed and many commonly used  programs have now been ported to Ubuntu.
However, some advanced commercial software like the Adobe suite (Dreamweaver,Photoshop etc.) is not available on Linux, due to which, thousands of web developers and designers choose Windows over Linux.

8) Gaming -
Gaming support is another aspect of an operating system. While Linux does have many games, it certainly cannot match Windows 7 in this area. Most of the high-end games have been built for the Windows platform, that make extensive use of Microsoft DirectX.
So its not hard to say that Windows 7 should be definitely your choice if you are a gamer.

9) Ease of use -
This is the part that worries most users who are used to the Windows 7 User interface.
In case you are not pleased with the Ubuntu user interface, there is another distribution of Ubuntu called Kubuntu, which has a marvellous user interface,its very easy to use and is similar to the look and feel of Windows 7 in many aspects.

10) Cost  -
Windows 7 ranges from $100 to $300 (Rs. 5000 to Rs.15000) depending on the version you are buying.
On the other hand, Ubuntu/Kubuntu is free of cost. You can download it from the official website.