iPhoto & Aperture Now Use The Same Data Format

Sure sure, yesterday's Apple announcements — iOS 6, Mountain Lion, the new MacBook Pro with Retina display — were really cool and amazing and all that. But what really made me jump out of my chair with excitement was the news that Aperture 3.3 and iPhoto 9.3 now totally use the same library data format.

I know, right??? So awesome!

Seriously, this may be the kind of thing that only I care about—as far as I know, real photographers with real problems to solve don't bother trying to understand or rehabilitate iPhoto. The main benefit to these two apps sharing a data format is the ability to use Aperture's somewhat more powerful editing and organization tools to import photos, but still retain the freedom to use iPhoto's simpler interface to browse and share them.

Neither app is as good for developing RAW photos as Lightroom, but at least now I can take advantage of Aperture's more flexible importing tools and catalog format to make iPhoto behave the way more like I've always wanted it to.