Adobe Systems has launched a test version of Mac software that is seen as a rival to a professional photo program that Apple Computer launched last year.
Adobe on Monday offered up a public beta of Adobe Lightroom, a program to help avid shutterbugs manage the work of processing, selecting and editing their RAW-format images. Apple introduced a similar concept with its $499 Aperture software that shipped late last year. Adobe noted, however, that it has been working on Lightroom for some time, although the final version is not expected until "late 2006."
"We first showed an early version of Lightroom at the Adobe Ideas Conference in April 2005 to demonstrate a new streamlined digital photography experience, from capture to print," Adobe President Shantanu Narayen said in a statement. "Even in beta form, photographers will find world-class technology that complements Photoshop."