Macintouch as a new review of iLife ’09. It’s worth a read, discussing new features and strengths and weaknesses of the new apps.
I’m short of time and won’t go into detail here. iLife and iWork ’09 are being reported on all over the web and lots of users are having ”problems“. Many are simply unclear-on-concept errors, basically not understanding how a new feature actually works. Some are operator error. Some are bugs or flaws in the software. This article covers a lot of the pros and cons.
IPhoto: Flashy, but not perfect
It seems that iPhoto in particular is a very new app, with significant new features, and the shortcomings that new stuff often have… Version 2 will be great, when the bugs are worked out! Still, Faces and Places are great ideas, and if they don’t perform as perfectly as I’d like, they are still useful.
Less flashy are the image enhancement tools added in iPhoto ’09. There are some very cool tools in the package, so read the article and check it out.
I’ll have my copies of iLife and iWork in 3 weeks or so, and will test as I have time and report here. Right now I am advising clients to use it if they already have it, with a new Mac or already purchase. If they don’t, and aren’t bleeding-edge adapters, wait a month or 2, read the reports, see how much the new features excite you, and after an update or so, go for it.
Changes in the user interface will confuse some. Same thing happened with iPhoto 08. I wish Apple would decide on a direction and stay with it for a while.
Other apps have cool features too…
GarageBand can teach basic guitar and piano now, and has some great new features. Then you can put new lessons to learn more. MacInTouch tried an Easy, Medium and Advanced lesson, and liked them. The artists teach how to play their songs, and talk about how they came about. 20-25 minute lessons for $4.99 is pretty good. The interface for the Lesson Store needs work, tho.
IMovie ’09 has a new interface, and solves some of the complaints of ’08, but not all. Many users prefer the “old” iMovie interface, which was more like traditional non-linear editors, and the HD version, while flawed, had some great effects and tools.
New features are pretty great, tho. Video stabilization alone makes me a happy guy. It’s not magic, but pretty darn good.
IWeb ’09 is not terribly different from the previous version, but has a few interesting new features, including built-in FTP so sites can be uploaded to non-Mobile-Me hosts. Whoopee!
IDVD is basically unchanged. Bummer.
Issues
The list is longer than I can add here, short of time as I am. Read the article for the full list. Error handling is not good. The connections between apps and the Apple Mothership don’t work as well as they ought to. Installation can be a pain, at least for some users. There are lots of comments, some will be more important to you than others, so please read the article.
There are some basic strategic flaws in Apple’s implementation of iLife ’09. The GarageBand lessons have to be downloaded, instead of being on another DVD. Even with broadband, it takes too long to download. Interface inconsistencies are frequently cited. MacInTouch writes that it feels like it was rushed. They recommend it cautiously… Be sure to have a backup, and hope Apple sends out updates soon.
Still, it’s got some great new features, making creating more and easier to share your creations. Some improvements will be significant for some users, silly for others. As far as value is concerned, you’ll have to make your own judgement. Me, I’m looking forward to the Lesson Store… It’s been too long since I picked up my guitar, so it should help with the rust.
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