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iWeb, iMovie, Garageband and iPhoto have all been upgraded. These are the applications that comprise the iLife suite. If you own a Mac, chances are you use one or more of these applications just about every day. Apple seems to be updating the software with new features about once a year, and this year everything gets a major improvement or two. Some of these new features are very powerful tools that are actually used by law enforcement (Faces). Kinda cool that we can use face recognition at home now. So, lets get to it.

iWeb did not get any major upgrades this year, but did get a few new features that are worth talking about. The Facebook users out there will love the fact that you can link your site to your Facebook account and can then let your friends know when you have updated your site. For the hardworking web designer, you can now manage multiple sites in iWeb. Each site will have its own menu and can be published individually at different times. I know people who have wished for that functionality for years. Wish granted. Other than that, not whole lot new going on in iWeb 09’.

iMovie got several major changes and several new features. Pretty major overhaul, if you ask me. Drag and drop got way cool. Now you can drag and drop a clip into a clip. Also they have added a green screen and a cutaway effect. I know there are people out there like me who have trouble getting our clips to line up just right. Enter the precision editor. This is a magnified film strip of the clips you’re working with so you can see exactly where they end/begin. You can also edit audio and video independently, so you can use the sound from one clip with the video from another. This is some serious film editing here people.

Imagine the astronomical amount of money a Windows user would have to pay to get this kind of power. $79? I am already sold, and we haven’t even gotten to Garageband or iPhoto. Back to iMovie. They have added a feature called animated travel maps. This gives you the ability to add a 3D flight plan to a movie. iMovie 09’ also has a new video stabilization feature. What it allows you to do is have the application scan your clips (all or one at a time) for camera movement. It then can stabilize the picture for you. This is undoable, however, if you want the effect. iMovie ’09 introduces 18 new animated titles, 19 new one-click video effects, and eight new transitions. The last notable new feature is the ability to browse your movies full screen. This will allow you to watch your videos without making a movie if you don’t want to. I can’t wait to use this application.

Garageband got its hair done, and nails done too. Not only can you record any instrument in a near professional manner, but Apple has decided to teach you how to play a guitar or piano, too. They only thing you have to do is write the masterpiece and take the nine basic lessons for the guitar or piano. You can even have artists give you lessons if you like. Sting, Fallout Boy, and John Fogerty are just a few of the artists who have provided some insight into their world of music. Amateur guitarists such as myself will have the most fun with the new version of Grageband. They have added amp modeling to the long list of tools at your disposal. Nice. I use Gearbox for my amp modeling, and it has a lag. Not a big one, but just enough to notice. I have to assume that an amp and cabinet set up right inside Garageband will not suffer from this annoying issue. Apple is claiming 30 complete rigs. I’m sure there are going to be good ones and bad ones, but it only takes one good one.

The last notable feature is Magic Garageband “Jam.” What this does is turn your Mac into a full screen full customizable band. Sounds like fun to me. They could have taken functions away from Garageband, and will still use it heavily. I’m glad they didn’t do that.

iPhoto got the coolest new feature of them all. Faces. Face recognition for the common man? Are you serious? This is stuff that is used at the FBI, CIA, and any other agency that hunts people. You can even create smart albums much the way you would in iTunes with LP names. My guess is that real world, iPhoto will need a moderate amount of user input for Faces to work well, but I can tell you that I am going to find the limitations out of sheer curiosity. The powers that be have also added a places feature to iPhoto 09’. Places is only going to be used by people with a GPS enabled camera or an iPhone. This is because the only way it will work otherwise is for you to go through your entire library and tag each photo manually with location information. I have 10,000 photos. I am not going to tag them. If you do decide to tag them, you can then search by location or keyword.

Themed slideshows is another cool feature. It has six themes that let you create beautiful slideshows in seconds. So, for you social-lights, Facebook is now integrated into iPhoto, and you can create a details map of where you have been. Let’s not forget the additional edit capabilities. iPhoto rocks hard.

Well that just about covers it. More horsepower, better gas mileage,  and more towing capacity, and all for only $79. You can’t beat that deal with a stick. I will be pre ordering. What do you think of the new stuff?

Product [iLife ‘09]