Picassa vs iPhoto

Question

I have used iPhoto for several years, and thought I'd give the competition a try.  I've listed below some of iPhoto's shortcomings, which resulted in my  switching to Picassa.  I'm tired of submitting feedback to Apple, and with each new release of iPhoto (and iMovie), critical functionality is still omitted.
1. iPhoto photo management is horrible.  Other photo management software such
   as Picassa or Lightroom allow you to simply import a top level directory,
   after which subdirectories with their meaningful names are displayed in
   the application.  No such directory hierarchy awareness exists in iPhoto.
2. Photo management with Picassa is automatic.  If I add or delete individual photos,
   or subdirectories in "watched folders", they are automatically updated
   in Picassa.
3. Picassa and Lightroom are referenced libraries, and work extremely well
   in that capacity.  iPhoto does not work well in that capacity, and I've
   read many recommendations in these forums to NOT use iPhoto as a reference
   library for that reason.  Instead they recommend that you import all of your
   photos directly into iPhoto.  The problem with this is that iPhoto will
   eventually become bloated and painfully slow.
4. Picassa allows you to take still snapshots from videos.  Brilliant!  iPhoto
   never had this ability.  iMovie actually did have this feature, but Apple
   in their infinite wisdom decided to remove the ability to take still
   snapshots from movies.  The "workarounds" recommended in numerous forums
   is to take a screen shot, or use MPEG Streamclip.  I still cannot believe
   Apple removed this critical functionality.
5. Picassa allows you to view your photos metadata.
6. Picassa allows you to select a start point and end point in a video and
   export just that small clip.  Nice!
7. Picassa is free and runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. 

Answer 1

To each their own, of course.
iPhoto photo management is horrible.  Other photo management software such
   as Picassa or Lightroom allow you to simply import a top level directory,
   after which subdirectories with their meaningful names are displayed in
   the application.  No such directory hierarchy awareness exists in iPhoto
That's not "photo" management, that's file management.  It's one way of doing things. It's a hybrid between using the file system to manage the files while using the app to manage the photos. It's done by the app writing hundreds (and hundreds) of invisible files to the folders. With iPhoto, the app replaces the Finder. As you never access the files via the Finder, where they are stored is of no consequence.
Photo management with Picassa is automatic.  If I add or delete individual photos,
   or subdirectories in "watched folders", they are automatically updated
   in Picassa.
Againm you're confusing photos and files. Well here's another way to look at it. File management in iPhoto is automatic. Delete the file from iPhoto and it's automatically remvoed from the disk.
You keep confusing files and the data they contain. If you do that will have issues with iPhoto, sure.
3. Picassa and Lightroom are referenced libraries, and work extremely well
   in that capacity.  iPhoto does not work well in that capacity, and I've
   read many recommendations in these forums to NOT use iPhoto as a reference
   library for that reason.  Instead they recommend that you import all of your
   photos directly into iPhoto.  The problem with this is that iPhoto will
   eventually become bloated and painfully slow.
Happily agree that iPhoto is not good with referenced Libraries. Using them is pointless as it's more work for exactly zero benefit. iPhoto will not become "bloated and painfully slow". Why would it? iPhoto stores the files exactly like Picasa does (that's how you spell it btw), in the Finder. Each library can contain 1,000,000 images.
Picassa allows you to take still snapshots from videos.  Brilliant!  iPhoto
   never had this ability.  iMovie actually did have this feature, but Apple
   in their infinite wisdom decided to remove the ability to take still
   snapshots from movies.  The "workarounds" recommended in numerous forums
   is to take a screen shot, or use MPEG Streamclip.  I still cannot believe
   Apple removed this critical functionality.
And if that's a key feature for you, then good for you.
How is Picasa at Slideshows? Books? Calendars? Cards? Uploading to Flickr? Facebook? etc?
5. Picassa allows you to view your photos metadata.
Here's a thing: so does iPhoto.
6. Picassa allows you to select a start point and end point in a video and
   export just that small clip.  Nice!
Pretty sure I can do that with iPhoto too. If not, I know I can do it with iMovie or Quicktime player.
7. Picassa is free and runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
iPhoto comes free with every mac. And you can be pretty sure that your photos aren't being datamined...
Oh, how is Picasa on integrating with the OS? That whole thing of every photo in your library being available to every app on your machine?