Buy a new Apple Macintosh and for a long time now you have been treated to a suite of new software that comes as part of their iLife suite of applications. Many writers and Mac fans praise the extra value this adds to a product when compared to a PC counterpart and yes, I have to agree, it does add up. The main argument Mac users seem to bandy around is that the software you get with a PC is often trial software, lite versions, subscription based, or so totally useless that it would be a lot better if it were not even installed. Whereas the iLife suite of applications a fully featured and very useful apps.
So what if you have an older Mac that did not include iLife, or perhaps you have a very old version and want to get up-to-date. Well, iLife is available to purchase and what I want to look at here is what you get for your money and if it is worth the £55 asking price.
I also wanted to see how the applications behaved on an older machine, so have installed the software on a 400MHz G4 PowerMac as well as a newer 1.8GHz G5. Let me get the installation out of the way first, as it really does not need writing home about, other than to say that Apple makes installing software very easy and intuitive, everything installed on both machines and updated without a hitch, with the exception of iDVD, which could not be installed on the G$ due to system requirements.
To kick off, iPhoto 6 is probably one of the most recognisable Apple products. Many people conceive this as an organisational tool for your photos and yes it is, but it is so much more besides. Attaching your digital camera or memory card to your Mac sets iPhoto into action and you are presented with some import options. Once the photos are on your Mac you can scroll through them, organise them, assign category keywords. Where iPhoto takes things more than one step further is as follows... to download the full review click here.
Product supplied by Apple UK.
Retail price: £55 (single user) : £69 (5 user family pack)
Contact: 0800 039 1010
Link to product.