Apple updates iLife, iWork, .Mac and OSX
Along with all of the company's new hardware, Apple managed to release a raft of software upgrades as well, including updated versions of the OSX operating system, productivity suite iWork, and the iLife media bundle. ILife '06 includes upgrades to iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand, along with a new app, iWeb, which provides tools for web site creation, podcasting and blogging, along with one-click publishing to Apple's .Mac service. Unlike the default mode of most other blogging tools, such as Typepad, Wordpress and Blogger, iWeb is designed to be used offline, with posts uploaded to .Mac after they're created in the desktop application. Other updates to iLife include podcast-editing tools in Garage Band and the ability to create RSS feeds for iPhoto libraries. ILife '06 comes bundled with all new Macs, or is available from Apple for $79. As usual, there's no upgrade discount for owners of previous versions of the software. Improvements to iWork include new 3D charting modes and new image editing tools. IWork '06 is also available for $79. OSX 10.4.4 is an incremental upgrade, and includes several new Dashboard Widgets, including a Google widget and an improved calendar widget. Oh, and this one's free for users of OSX 10.4. Woo hoo.
