Apple iLife '08 applications have elegant interfaces, integrate well, and tie into .Mac, iTunes, and YouTube accounts. iPhoto nicely organizes pictures by events, iMovie is drag-and-drop simple, and GarageBand offers more controls
Originally created as part of Apple's digital hub strategy as a single, user-friendly repository for digital media, iLife has grown into a creative suite of applications that make it easy for anyone to turn his digital memories into books, movies and DVDs, Web sites and beyond. It has become a staple for Mac users, shipping with every new Macintosh computer and offering tools for managing and editing digital photos, video and music
The components that have seen the most changes are iMovie and iPhoto, so we'll start with those applications. GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD have all seen improvements as well, though -- some major, some minor -- and we'll get to those in turn
Features
iMovie
IMovie was one of the first iLife applications, and it was revolutionary right from the start, providing an easy way to capture and edit digital video. Not only has iMovie always been so intuitive that "user-friendly" seems an understatement, it has always offered professional-looking options for titles, transitions and other effects
iPhoto
IPhoto has long been a powerful product for organizing, performing minor image adjustments to and sharing digital photos in a variety of ways. IPhoto '08, a.k.a. iPhoto 7, provides new organizational tools, enhanced editing options, and more ways to print and share photos
iWeb
Since its release in iLife '06, iWeb has provided users with an easy way to create high-end-looking Web sites with minimal effort. IWeb '08, or iWeb 2.0, offers a number of advantages over iWeb 1.1, chief among them the ability to add snippets of HTML code. The lack of a method for either directly modifying HTML in iWeb pages or being able to drop in a small amount of code was previously a major complaint of many iWeb users
iDVD
Given the improvements and new features in the other iLife applications, iDVD's update looks almost boring at first. Although there is no massive shift in interface or functionality, Apple has included a number of new themes and a number of new buttons. The number and style of buttons in the previous version was limited and largely unchanged from early iDVD releases. This new version offers a wider range of styles, shapes and other options for DVD buttons. While not as exciting as iMovie's new interface or iWeb's ability to add Web widgets, this is a welcome addition to iLife
GarageBand
GarageBand has always been a great tool for anyone interested in making music (or podcasts). It provides novice and experienced musical talents with recording, editing and mixing tools for both live instruments and recordings and for attached MIDI devices and virtual software instruments. GarageBand in iLife '08 offers some very cool new features, and the one with broadest appeal is aimed at those Mac owners who have limited or even no musical or audio know-how
