IPhoto 6 adds a "photocasting" feature to share pictures online, but Apple's boneheaded implementation of a popular Web-publishing standard called Really Simple Syndication trips up most non-Apple software. Not only can you feature your own photos above each month or on any single day, you can also include friends' birthdays (as noted in Mac OS X's Address Book) and any personalized calendars (as stored in OS X's iCal). That calendar template shows off what Apple does better than most other computer companies - orchestrating an array of software programs. A new set of visual effects (for instance, selective blurring and color fading) catches up to those in such Windows-only programs as Google's Picasa, and you can now make and order calendars and greeting cards from Apple's site. That mode also reveals an extraordinarily useful "compare" button to line up two to eight photos for inspection.Īlthough the new software doesn't offer new ways to sort or find pictures, it adds some ways to edit and share them. A full-screen mode wipes away even that minimal chrome, letting you eyeball and edit photos against a no-distraction black background. It also looks more streamlined, with a new interface that trims the old brushed-metal frame, leaving more room to inspect your photos. Even on a four-year-old iMac G4, iPhoto 6 felt distinctly swifter in everyday sorting and editing operations. ![]() Apple says iPhoto 6 can store 10 times as many images as its predecessor, up to 250,000 photos. The most likely reason to upgrade would be if your old copy of iPhoto has begun sinking under the weight of your accumulated pictures. ![]() But as a $79 purchase - especially if you anted up for last year's version - it only makes sense in a handful of circumstances. (iTunes, however, is sensibly gone from the bundle Apple updates that free download far more than once a year.)Īs a freebie on new Macs, the 2006 edition of iLife (it requires a G4, G5 or Intel-processor Mac running Mac OS X 10.3.9 or newer) is a pleasure overall, despite bugs and missing features. But iLife '06 also adds one new program to the bundle, a blog- and home-page creator called iWeb. This year's model has much in common with the last two: It brings major upgrades to iPhoto while making relatively few changes to iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand. And now, iLife '05 has been retired by iLife '06, also $79. Last year, it shipped iLife '05 and upped the price to $79. accepted this challenge in 2004, when it began charging $49 for its multimedia programs with the release of iLife '04. When does anybody care if you're using Quicken 2005 instead of Quicken 2006?Īpple Computer Inc. Makers of sports-simulation games usually do, thanks to the need to update player rosters and add new stadiums and arenas.Īnd though personal-finance developers try to pull this off, most users ignore them. Tax-software developers always get away with it because Congress can't resist tinkering with the tax code. ![]() Not that many companies manage to persuade customers to pay for upgraded versions of their software every year.
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