iWork and iLife Impressions

I've upgraded my system to the latest version of iLife, and also installed the new iWork package, consisting of Pages and Keynote.

Here's a quick summary of the worth-it-ness of iLife '05:

• iTunes - Bof. Far as I can tell, the only recent changes to iTunes have been to do with breaking the various software hacks people have been using to de-restrict content. There's nothing to get excited about here


• iMovie - Likewise and ditto. Unless you're planning on getting an HDV camcorder soon, there's not much to write home about in this version. I'm particularly appalled at the instant movie feature. Given that the brilliance of iMovie has always been about the way it empowered you to edit your own footage and make your own little movies, the idea of letting the computer/software take over just makes me think of Microsoft.


• GarageBand - it's okay. I wouldn't recommend it for a guitarist, but if you're an adequate keyboard player and you don't want to get into anything with a learning curve, GarageBand suffices. I still tend to think anything put together entirely from loops and virtual instruments wasn't worth bothering with in the first place - like making a fruit cake without sugar and fat. Pro Tools LE is still the best package for guitarists and beginners.


• iDVD - A few new themes, and the chance that it won't work for six months is what you expect from an iDVD upgrade. DO NOT buy iLife '05 if iDVD is your main reason. In any event, preserve your previous, working version in a folder called "old iDVD" before you install the new one. The new themes, by the way, are quite busy as themes go. I'm not keen on interminable DVD menus, they make me want to kill myself.


• iPhoto - Good things: being able to import RAW camera shots, and the movies you shoot with your digicam. More advanced editing tools are there, but I don't like the way they're implemented, and I'll continue to use Photoshop. For most people, Photoshop Elements will suffice, and gives you many more options, with better performance. iPhoto now pauses to save any changes you make, and displays thumbnails of other images in the Edit view, which I don't think is welcome. New interface is a step backwards.

Overall, I'd say more misses than hits, this time around. If iLife '04 is still doing it for you, stick with it. You need new hardware to get the most out of this version, so wait until you buy a new Mac. We're still a long way from the glory that was iMovie 2, and whereas iPhoto 4 performed miles better than previous versions, new version adds feature bloat and slows down again.

As for iWork, Keynote does nothing for me, because I feel inclined to murder anyone who tries to foist a presentation on me. If you're a teacher looking to introduce some element of IT to your lessons, using a multimedia projector and laptop, whatever, Keynote is preferable to PowerPoint. It integrates nicely with iPhoto, iMovie, and iTunes, so you can drag content in very easily.

Pages looks good, and does give you the option of starting with a blank page. The templates supplied look fantastic, but you're probably wisest not to use them. It will export to HTML, which I haven't explored fully, but unless it collects resources like images in a folder with your HTML page, it's probably not worth trying (get a cut-down version of Softpress Freeway instead).

Actually, I think the lack of a modern "Claris HomePage" is a real missed opportunity in this pages thing. To go into a mode that will enable you to whack together a simple web page, maybe with some helpful templates, so you could do your own thing with your .mac account - that would be quite useful for some people.

As a basic word processor, Pages works about as well as TextEdit, but it does go further in allowing you to produce DTP documents with illustrations and photos. It will NOT import AppleWorks clippings, far as I can tell. The weakest parts of AppleWorks have been jettisoned, and it's now a quite powerful DTP tool, certainly enough for most home users' needs.

iLife
iWork
Pages