iLife '09 First Impressions

It would not be possible to do a full review of iLife '09 after having had it for as short a period of time as I have, but I still wanted to give you the skinny on what I've noticed.  As you all know, I was very excited to see a new version of iLife at MacWorld, and I think that Apple has done nothing to shake my confidence in iLife in general.  It's still a solid package, a great value, and a must-own for any Mac user.

iPhoto

Let's be honest; there really isn't a whole ton of new stuff available in iPhoto '09, but the three biggest features are, indeed, great.  So far the facial tagging is awesome, and the more I tag, the more accurate it becomes.  I have thousands of photos to go through to tag everyone, but it's pretty amazing how accurate it is.  Some things seem to confuse it, and it does make the same mistake frequently (substituting one friend for another) but overall iPhoto is learning.

Geotagging is also pretty cool, but the UI for it feels unncessarily clunky.  I guess I just need to get used to it, but it isn't as slick as what's built into Flickr.

The built in export to Flickr and Facebook are awesome, and it's nice to not have to rely on third parties for this functionality anymore.  I particularly like the Facebook uploader because it'll tag your photos with the names of relevant contacts (something I realized a bit too late; gotta rename my tags now), but be aware, they aren't actual Facebook tags (meaning the tag isn't associated with the contact you tagged, it's just a generic name tag). Overall, nothing revolutionary there, but it's nice to have those features integrated instead of added on.

iMovie

iMovie '09, for me, was the most anticipated part of the iLife Suite, and it doesn't disappoint.  The video effects (at least some of them) are back, and they render in real time.  I tinkered with the stabilization feature a bit, but honestly it takes an eternity to analyze a clip.  Most of my video is shot at 1080i, so I guess that has something to do with it, but it's nowhere near as fast or as immediate as the demo at Macworld would lead you to believe.  Other than that, it's quite good.  I know I'll be spending the most time with iMovie, so I have a feeling the more I use it, the more I'll build an impression of how it works and what it does.  So far, the initial reaction is good, though, and being able to add one of those neato skeato globes with the travelling line to my movie made me feel like a real producer.  That effect is going to probably get tired really quickly as lots of people start using it, but for now I can feel like a visionary!  Well...  Okay...  Maybe not...

GarageBand

I have to be honest.  I was hoping for more in Garageband.  Let's be honest, the big new feature is the "Learn to Play" feature which they demoed the heck out of at MacWorld, but beyond that they didn't show much.  In poking around, I can say that the new version of GarageBand is a bunch more responsive than the prior version, but beyond that the changes must be pretty minor because I don't notice anything that immediately jumps out at me.  As someone who recorded a podcast for well over a year then used GarageBand to do the editing, every bit of stability and performance improvement is appreciated.

Unfortunately, Apple seems more interested in turning GarageBand into a revenue stream than into great editor, and the interface is just starting to feel tired already.

iWeb

Let's be honest.  There's a good chance you've never used iWeb and never met anyone who has.  It's not surprising when you consider how restrictive it is.  That being said, it really is a nice program for anyone who doesn't want to get their hands dirty with HTML and other web technologies.  In the latest version, you can now easily manage multiple sites, and even upload them to your own FTP server directly.

I also like the addition of Widgets (and HTML Snippets for that matter).  While I don't think iWeb will ever be a power user's web editor, the addition of self publishing, widgets, and HTML code may help iWeb make an impression on people who would have otherwise ignored it.  For me it's just not enough power, but I have used it in the past to knock out a quick project or two.  This isn't a major upgrade, but it is a nice one.

iDVD

Not everything got a makeover.  iDVD is, essentially, the same as it was last year.  No wonder they didn't bother mentioning it at MacWorld (or on the iLife Box!).  No new themes, no new features.  It's basically last year's version.  Maybe they made some under-the-hood changes, but I can't find a single difference.  It's a shame, really, because iDVD is one of the things that separate iLife from other video editors for consumers.  Maybe there are great plans for it in the coming months, or maybe they're going to release something to replace it (maybe DVD Studio for Consumers?).  I'm not holding my breath, though.

Maybe this is Apple's way of saying physical media is dead?

Conclusion

The old axiom still applies here; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  While I'm not too thrilled with the updates for GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD, the truth is every part of the iLife Suite is still pretty solid.  The new features are a worthy addition, and for a mere $79 you aren't going to get a better value for your money on any other platform or with any other software.  I'd always like to see more than I do, but that shouldn't detract from a great product, and frankly, iLife '09 is a great product and a great value.

Have you gotten your copy yet?  Share your first impressions in the forum!

Vincent Ferrari is an Apple fan, videoblogger, blogger, writer, and all-around geek from the Bronx. He works in the IT Department of a cellular phone company that shall not be named, and lives in a very comfortable apartment with his lovely wife, two lovely cats, three Macs, two iPhones, and God-knows-how-many iPods of varying age.

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