“Last week’s release of iLife ’08 marked the first update to Apple’s digital media suite in more than 18 months. Originally created as part of Apple’s digital hub strategy as a single, user-friendly repository for digital media, iLife has grown into a creative suite of applications that make it easy for anyone to turn his digital memories into books, movies and DVDs, Web sites and beyond. It has become a staple for Mac users, shipping with every new Macintosh computer and offering tools for managing and editing digital photos, video and music,” Ryan Faas reports for Computerworld.
“Despite the long wait, the new version’s innovations are definitely worth the time and the $79 price tag. The components that have seen the most changes are iMovie and iPhoto, so we’ll start with those applications. GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD have all seen improvements as well, though — some major, some minor — and we’ll get to those in turn,” Faas reports.
Fass takes a look at:
• iMovie: For anyone who wants to edit digital video, iMovie ’08 is a must-have upgrade. There are no consumer video-editing tools on the market that come close to its interface for either ease of editing or organizational features. Add to that the professional-level titles, transitions and results that it allows, and iMovie alone can justify the cost of upgrading to the new version of iLife.
• iPhoto: iPhoto’s ease of use as a single product and as a desktop- rather than Web-based application continue to place it above most competitors… Overall, this is a great update, even if you don’t use every new feature.
• iWeb: The ability to add HTML code to iWeb pages, combined with its existing ease of use, makes iWeb ’08 one of the best consumer-oriented Web design tools available. And the fact that users can now take advantage of the special .Mac effects using a custom domain name adds value to both iWeb and .Mac.
• iDVD: Apple has included a number of new themes and a number of new buttons. While not as exciting as iMovie’s new interface or iWeb’s ability to add Web widgets, [these are] a welcome addition to iLife.
• GarageBand: Without a doubt, this is the best version of GarageBand Apple has ever produced… All in all, it’s a great product that offers users a fun time as well as excellent sound.
Much, much more in the full article here.
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