There’s no doubt that iLife is one of the best apps available on the Mac platform, yet it’s probably one of the few pieces of software that you don’t really hear them shouting about. Frankly, if I’d designed it I would be screaming for a port to PC, so sure would I be that it would sell in the thousands of copies.
iLife has been a hidden jewel in Apple’s crown, quietly revolutionising photograph management, movie making, music making and website creation. The most recent version, Apple iLife 09, provides some extremely welcome updates to the four main apps, which I’ve included some further information on below. If you have a Mac, I’d certainly recommend checking the newest version out.
iPhoto 09
The newest version of this software includes face detection, face recognition, geotagging and a wide range of editing options. Naturally, the new options allow for a wide range of organisation including who is in the photographs and where they were taken. There’s also sharing options with Facebook and Flickr with a single click.
iMovie 09
There’s a new drag and drop editing option available in this movie editing software, making it an easy way to edit films even if you’ve never even changed so much as a single frame. Also new is the precision editor that allows for fine tune editing. Other options include animated travel maps, video stabilisation and dynamic theme options.
GarageBand 09
If you’ve ever thought of picking up an instrument, then GarageBand 09 might just become your best friend. Basic lessons are offered for guitar and piano to educate you from the first steps all the way through to the major and minor scales. There are also artist lessons, guitar features and a Jam session you can set up.
iWeb 09
This new software is designed to take the pain out of web design by making everything intuitive, simple and exactly as you want. It’ll guide you through all of the relevant steps from design, customisation and adding widgets all the way through to management and publishing of your new web space.
Overall, Apple iLife 09 is a great package and is available now for £69.
Is iWeb better than Dreamweaver?
@iorkara,
It is hard to compare both. Dreamweaver is a full blown suite. iLife is focused at another market, beginners/occasional website designers.
If you are looking for a complete alternative for Dreamweaver chose the combo of Textmate, CSSEdit and Transmit or Coda if you want an al-in-one package.
Oh OK. Well looks like i’ll stick to Dreamweaver then.
Thanks for that! Very helpful!