New and interesting ways to display digital photos have been brought about by the widespread availability of touch screen devices. Being able to interact directly with photos make slideshows far more interesting, and with the release of Windows 8 such a luxury is not limited to tablets such as the iPad.

If you are one of the lucky few to have invested in a touchscreen monitor for your Windows 8 computer, Picasa HD affords you an excellent way to browse through your images and display slideshows to others. But even if you are using a regular monitor, this free app is a valuable tool that makes it simple and fun to manage a digital photograph collection.

The app can be used to view existing Picasa albums that you have stored online, but it can also be used to delete those you no longer require as well as creating new ones. If you are not enamoured with the usual method of uploading files to Picasa, the upload option in the app may well appeal. Working in reverse, the app can also be used to download images if you do not have a local copy.

Having created an album you can browse through it at your own pace or view an automated slideshow complete with screen transitions. Depending on whether you are browsing through photos on your own or showing them off to others, you can choose between viewing images at fullscreen size, or a slightly smaller mode in which file details are displayed to the side of the screen.

It almost goes without saying that there is support for photo and album sharing built into the app, and touch screen users can also take advantages of the familiar pinch-to-zoom gesture in addition to regular swipes and pans.