With Apple’s iLife applications—iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iTunes, and GarageBand—you can do almost anything you want with your video clips, photos, and music. In the new version of this suite, iLife ’05, you’ll find fantastic new themes; a new Media Browser that lets you tie your audio, photos, and video together; and tons of improvements that make these fun-to-play-with apps even easier to use. But they provide more than enjoyment: this is Apple’s most ambitious iLife release, with some nearly pro-level features. So the suite provides lots of growing room for people just starting out with their digital media collections. Best of all, the suite costs only $79. But as you’ll see in these reviews, the updated iLife apps aren’t without their oddities. You can find a full review of iTunes 4 in our July 2003 issue.
- iLife ’05
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iPhoto 5
The update to the photo management program brings welcome improvements in almost every area. But some annoying glitches remain.
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iMovie HD
If you’re on the cutting edge of high-definition video and have the gear, the latest version of iMovie is a good first step into that world. But for the rest of us, iMovie HD’s speed improvements alone make the iLife ’05 package worth the price.
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iDVD 5
As a complement to iMovie HD, the updated version of Apple’s DVD-creation tool is a solid, though incremental, improvement over the previous edition.
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GarageBand 2
Apple has addressed many of the flaws found in the original release of GarageBand while adding new features that expand the program’s capabilities. The end result? GarageBand 2 is a commendable upgrade.
Will Apple’s Lastest Suite Hit the Spot?
- Recommend? 0 YES 0 NO
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