Review by D. Solberg

It seems that some people are disappointed in the new iMovie, which is substantially different than the old one. The new one is much easier for most non-computer people to use, making it possible for just about anyone to make a movie quickly and easily. So what’s wrong with that? That ease of use sacrifices many of the uber-advanced features that technical people love. Everything is packaged and ready-to-go to look good, but you can add advanced volume or video controls and filters. In the end, this will push the technical people to buy the more advanced Final Cut Express, and make the majority of the population able to finally make a movie quickly. What you think of this depends on what you want. Personally, I like it because I don’t have a lot of time to satisfy my inner geek.

The other software is generally improved. I am a big fan of the new iPhoto events, which groups your photos according to the days and times you took the photos. For this to work, you’ve got to set your camera’s time and date correctly; otherwise, the events are grouped into odd clusters. iWeb is improved with better management for personal sites. Garageband has a new Magic Garageband feature that makes it much easier to generate your own music. All of this software is more efficient at handling today’s huge data files.

One caveat to all of this software is that there are more bugs than I’d like. Apple does do a good job fixing bugs, though, and most things I do work fine. Also, this software appreciates a newer Mac - either a 2.0 Ghz or faster G5 or an Intel Mac are required to use the new iMovie. So if you’re using a G4 or older processor, you might be disappointed by the speed of this software. On the other hand, with a newer computer, you’ll probably be impressed by the speed.

Generally, if you like fast, easy-to-use software and you have a newer computer, you’ll love the new iLife. If you’re a technie and you like to have lots of features and options, this update might not impress you.