Review: iLife '11

"MLMUGers subject their Macs to mysterious code"

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Software Review
by David Lewis

Product: iLife 11

Company: Apple, Inc.

URL: Apple.com/ilife/

List Price: $49.00

System Requirements: Mac computer with an Intel processor; Mac OS X v10.6.3 or later; and a number of others

Test system: 13.1" MacBook Pro

Rating: 4 out of 5 Apples

iLife is a collection of five Apple applications. All these apps are centered around multimedia management. The applications are iPhoto, GarageBand, iWeb, iMovie, and iDVD. For the 2011 version, both iWeb and iDVD were not changed in any way. As such, only iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand will be discussed.

iPhoto

Probably the biggest enhancement for this application is the ability to email photos from within iPhoto itself. With earlier versions you needed to migrate to an email client to achieve photo distribution to others. Not any more. A nice addition. Second, integration with Facebook is now easier in my opinion. For example, uploading photos to one's Facebook page is as simple as selecting the image(s) and sharing them on your Facebook page. iPhoto and Facebook sync continuously in this regard. Third, there are new slideshow effects and album designs for your photos. Very nice. Lastly, there is a new full screen mode which I found to be especially appealing as it allowed me the chance to work with photos with as much screen real estate as my 13.1" MacBook Pro would allow.

iMovie

Here I found the biggest change to be the ability to make trailers for your movies. Although it did have a "template" like feel to it, you can insert some creativity into what otherwise might be a fairly vanilla feature. Another, more significant enhancement, is the increased audio capabilities. More specifically, a movie's audio can be edited without having to "split" the audio file from the video file. This results in a far more seamless editing experience. Also, instant replay access has now evolved into a simple click of a button. Very handy and a huge time saver. Lastly, user interaction with YouTube and other networking sites seem more effortless with this version of iMovie. Clearly this is something Apple had in mind during production.

GarageBand

This is the type of application that already seems to be laced with good features in its 09 version. Therefore no new features are introduced in terms of musicality. Rather, emphasis is placed on making the software user a better musician. An important move. This enhancement is accomplished with two new features called "Flextime" and "Groove Machine." These features help the user create music that assure maintaining rhythm and timing. This is accomplished by having the user select an instrument in the band and matching their work to that instrument, or making sure that all instruments match a certain beat. In its effort toward making the user a better musician, more lessons have also been added.

Reviewer: David Lewis

David is a marketing rep within the Healthcare industry. He has been a Mac advocate since grad school when he bought his first Classic II. He has owned the Performa, several iMacs, & Powerbooks. Currently he is using the 13" MacBook Pro running 10.6.3. For software, he uses Excel and FileMaker Pro.

He is married and lives in Havertown. He has a son Taylor Paul who is 12.

This site has many more reviews, all written by MLMUG members.
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