The Macintosh iLife’06

reviewed by Chris Marshall

What they say:

The definitive iLife reference, completely updated and revised. The Macintosh iLife ’06 is the ultimate iLife learning experience, a lavishly illustrated handbook packed with easy-to-follow instructions, essential technical background, and tips for iLife users of all levels.

• Shop ’til you drop at the iTunes Music Store

• Take your iPod beyond music—watch videos, view photos, store contacts and calendars, and more

• Improve your photography and video-shooting techniques

• Create spectacular slide shows, photo books, calendars, and greeting cards

• Refine your photos to perfection with iPhoto 6

• Share photos via email, Web albums, and cutting-edge photocasts

• Explore the latest video formats with iMovie HD

• Record and arrange your own music with GarageBand

• Create and publish your own Web sites, blogs, and podcasts

• Preserve the past: digitize old records, photos, and movies

Each two-page spread is a self-contained tutorial or set of tips. Everything you need is at your fingertips, and every page is updated for iLife ’06.

The Web site: Get updates, tips, and much more at this book’s companion Web site, www.macilife.com.

Jim Heid is one of the most admired writers and instructors in the Mac community.

A contributing editor of Macworld magazine since 1984, he has been using and teaching each of the programs in the iLife suite since its debut.

What I say:

I am a natural skeptic! I never believe that any book that claims to be the definitive anything can possibly be. Of course, you should never judge a book by its cover, and as I have been using iLife 06 for just under a year, what was this book going to tell me that I didn’t already know?

OK, scrub that last bit. I don’t use every element of iLife o6, but that is through choice, and I did sort of jump straight in and taught myself, so maybe I don’t know everything.

In fact, I question my own comment about the cover – I mean anything with the iLife’06 icons a la Front Row can’t be at all bad, can it?

Hmm, I’m batting .333 here, so surely it can’t be the definitive book? Well 3 for 3 against me, because as far as any book on an evolving subject can be, this book covers most aspects of iLife ’06. If you are wanting an advanced book on specific features - for example Garage Band - you will probably want a more advanced book, but I would hazard a guess that new and intermediary iLife’06 users will be amazed at just how much functionality exists in this suite of applications.

I am not a business user with respect to my Mac. I am lucky enough the vast majority of my computing time is spent messing about with music, video, pictures etc. In fact iLife ’06 was the single most overriding reason why I bought a Mac in the first place. I would recommend this book to anybody that was thinking about buying a Mac, or knew anyone considering the purchase of a Mac, or to anyone that has been using iLife for less than two years (so that includes iLife ’05).

I particularly liked the way that the book was laid out. Naturally it took you through each application in iLife ’06: Introducing iLife; iTunes and iPod : Music and More; iPhoto and Digital Photography, iMovie HD : Making Movies; iDVD : Putting it All Together; iWeb : Your World on the Web.

The two-page spread format works exceptionally well, both as a tutorial or as a narrative. It is a 2:1 book, in that you can read it from cover to cover to provide a more than adequate review of the whole of iLife’06, or you can dip into specific areas when you have a specific project that you want a refresher on, for example Customizing Menus in iDVD, which is something you may not do that often.

The production quality of the book is as high as you would expect of a book discussing something such as iLife’06, with an easy-to-follow lay out, good quality screen shots, and useful tips in sidebars.

For me, the real joy lay in two areas: the realization that even with the applications that I use on a regular basis there are aspects that I don’t know about, and secondly, confirmation of just how much enjoyment lies ahead for me as I continue my iLife’06 journey.

In summary: A great book either as a gift for the Mac person in your life, this holiday, or treat yourself. Even if you think you know about iLife ‘06 this will have something in it for you.