PC Magazine’s Troy Dreier has reviewed iLife, Apple’s newly packaged suite of digital lifestyle software. iLife gets an editor’s rating of four out of five.
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iLife includes iTunes 3, Apple’s digital music software; iPhoto 2, the latest revision of Apple’s digital photo editing and organization tool; iMovie 3, the consumer-oriented digital video editing software; and iDVD 3, a new version of Apple’s DVD mastering software, compatible only with its own “SuperDrive” equipped computers.
Dreier noted that the iLife package, which includes updated versions of everything except iTunes, has been tweaked to help stay current with competitors, and has also been improved for greater integration and cooperation between software. iPhoto, for example, can more easily use the MP3 files you’ve ripped in iTunes and iMovie sports a one-button import to bring projects to iDVD.
Dreier complained of some performance issues running multiple clips in iDVD 3 on a 933MHz G4 system, and said that it crashed once as well, causing him to lose unsaved clips. Dreier heaped praise on iMovie’s latest iteration, however, calling it “one of the best consumer-level video-editing tools on the market,” and is pleased with the enhancements in iPhoto 2, though he’s looking forward to what Apple does with iPhoto in the future. iTunes doesn’t get any changes in the iLife suite, which disappointed Dreier.
All of the iLife applications are available for free download except for iDVD 3. What’s more, all of the new apps are bundled on new Macs. As a result, iLife users are essentially buying the software for the privilege of having iDVD 3. This led Dreier to conclude, “The iLife suite is strong, but its pricing is a little confusing.”