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iLife 06 Review Part 2: GarageBand

By Nick, January 16, 2006

This is the second in a series of articles reviewing Apple’s iLife 06 software suite. Applications will be reviewed in this order: iPhoto, GarageBand, iWeb, iMovie, iDVD, and iLife summary. I will not be reviewing iTunes because iTunes 6 has been out for a while, and it’s ubiquitous. Also, the score on this page reflects this application only, not the suite as a whole. Onward!

GarageBand holds a unique place in the iLife suite as the only application whose name doesn’t start with a lower-case “i”. It’s also the only one sporting woodgrain. That’s besides the point, though. Since its introduction two years ago, an entire community of GarageBand users has sprouted through sites like iCompositions, and for good reason; GarageBand has been a solid application form the start. Does GarageBand 3 keep up those winning ways?

GarageBand’s user interface is not significantly different from the previous two versions. The window texture appears smoother, keeping with Apple’s move to kill the brushed look. Aside from that, however, there are a few notable changes. The track info panel is no longer a separate window but is integrated into the main window. When it is showing, things can get a little tight in the GarageBand window on 1024x768 displays. An option to view it in a separate window would be nice. GarageBand also features a media browser similar to that in some other iLife apps (and iWork) which is integrated into the window in a similar manner as the track info panel. You…
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Path Finder 4 Released

By Arden, January 15, 2006

CocoaTech has (at long last!) released Path Finder 4, the much-anticipated follow-up of the popular Finder replacement application. Path Finder 4 has been in development for over a year and a half and was scheduled to ship in December 2005, but the developers ran into some problems and had to delay its release.

Path Finder is a replacement for OS X’s Finder. It features numerous customizable commands, shelves and drawers for any sort of information you might want, a very flexible interface, numerous built-in tools such as command-line processing and text editing, and much more. Version 4 features a redesigned interface, an overhauled engine, and many new features like tabs and a tool to select files based on varying criteria.

A full review of Path Finder 4 is forthcoming.

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iLife 06 Review Part 1: iPhoto

By Nick, January 14, 2006

This is the first in a series of articles reviewing Apple’s iLife 06 software suite. Applications will be reviewed in this order: iPhoto, GarageBand, iWeb, iMovie, iDVD, and iLife summary. I will not be reviewing iTunes because iTunes 6 has been out for a while, and it’s ubiquitous. Also, the score on this page reflects this application only, not the suite as a whole. So let’s get started.

iPhoto began its life on January 7, 2002 at MWSF 2002. Version 1.0 was sluggish, but showed promise. Version 2 was still slow, but a few welcome enhancements were added. Version 3 never existed, because Apple likes the number 4 (or they wanted all apps to be version 4 for iLife 04, which included GarageBand 1.0). Version 4 made using iPhoto fast enough to use without wanting to strangle yourself. Version 5 was iPhoto’s first major overhaul; it sported a revamped user interface, and many new features. Version 6 is not quite the same quantum leap that version 5 was, but it builds off a very solid foundation. The result is, without a doubt, the best version of iPhoto yet.

The iLife 06 box is much smaller than previous versions’ boxes. The box is only slightly larger than a CD jewel cases and about as thick as three jewel cases. It’s probably the smallest software box I’ve ever seen, and it makes sense; there’s no need for a large box when all you toss in there is a CD or DVD, a small…
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At A Glance: Pixound Jam Studio

By Arden, January 14, 2006

At Macworld, I had the chance to play around with Pixound Jam Studio, a nifty little application for turning pixels into audio tones. The main premise is as such: you move your mouse around the screen, perhaps over an image or a document, and the RGB values for each pixel translate into a different instrument. You can change the amount each contributes, as well as varying the pixel difference tolerance for smoother sounds.

So far, the practical applications for Pixound can be counted on your fingers. But it is a very fun toy, and is useful for DJ’s, particularly irreverant musicians, and anyone who just wants to hear what their art sounds like.

EDIT: Oops, meant “Pixound.” Silly me.

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A few minutes with Cris Pearson of Plasq

By Nick, January 11, 2006

(Listen to this interview - 4.57 MB, link fixed)

So I’m here with Cris Pearson of Plasq, and in case you’re not familiar, it is the company that makes Comic Life, a program that allows you to take the photos from your iPhoto library, apply effects and such to them and make your own comic book. It’s one of the cooler apps out there for the Mac; it won an Apple Design Award, and Deep Thought gave it a 5 out of 5 rating when we reviewed it some months back. So, first of all, because you may be unfamiliar to our readers, we’d like to get a little personal background on you and your company.

I do user interface design, graphic design; we started up Plasq to kind of be an open company to get people to come in and do their apps under the Plasq name--that’s how it worked previously--we’re heading towards incorporating. How far do you want to go with it?

As far as you want to go.

Yeah. About me?

About you...anything you want. Tell us a little about yourself.

Okay. I’ll tell you who’s at Plasq. There’s people from — you know, I’m from Melbourne, Australia; and the programmer for Comic Life, he’s in America, then there’s a guy in France, and a guy in Geneva, and another guy from Melbourne as well. So, yeah, we’re very spread out.

So, we’re [Deep Thought] similar in that regard; we’re kind of spread out. How, as a software…
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