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iLife 06 Review Part 3: iWeb

By Nick, January 18, 2006

This is the third 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. Hie thee, make haste! Read forth!

The concept of an easy-to-use web site creation application has been around for quite some time. Claris Home Page comes to mind. More recently, applications such as RapidWeaver have been developed to fill this market. iLife itself has had some very rudimentary web creation capabilities, but those have been limited to photo albums in iPhoto and such. Enter iWeb. iWeb brings a more complete set of web creation tools (and a decidedly plain name) to iLife 06, such as blog creation. While iWeb will be a boon to most home users, more advanced users (e.g. those who have moved beyond iWeb but not into the realm of professional toold like Dreamweaver) will find iWeb much too limited.

iWeb’s user interface borrows from other applications such as iTunes and iPhoto, with a touch of Pages spliced in for good measure. The application window has a source list to the left, an editing pane to the right, and a small toolbar along the bottom of the editing pane. It’s a vintage Apple UI in its simplicity. Creating a new page is as simple…
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Google Earth Out of Beta

By Liam, January 16, 2006

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Google Earth, Google’s popular satellite maps application purchased from Keyhole, has finally reached version 1 (Actually 3. Keyhole was purchased at version 2). It joins the ranks of its web-based counterpart, Google Local, as Google technologies that aren’t in Google’s “finished beta” line (the most notable finished beta being Google’s webmail service, GMail). As a bonus, Google Earth for Mac has been officially released. The Mac version requires OS X 10.4, while the PC version requires Windows 2000 or XP.

Deep Thought’s Take: Finally! Though you think they could have used some of that time to improve the look of the interface, my main problem with the software.


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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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