So if you already have iLife '04 should you upgrade to the latest version? SHORT ANSWER(S): Yes (if you want a speed boost in iMovie and need to record up to 8 separate audio tracks in Garage Band) or No (if you find the performance in iLife '04 OK).
LONG ANSWER: First to bore you with my background. I've been using iPhoto, iMovie on my beige G3 PowerPC Macintosh and found the applications decent "freebies". I could never run iDVD on that machine and never paid for updates to these applications. My machine (even though I upgraded the CPU from a G3 to a G4) really wasn't meant to be used with the newer releases. I made due with the old mac and the ThinkPads issued to me at work (eventually broke down and bought a 1.5Ghz Athlon Compaq Presario).
Then my wife's PowerBook came in last year (Feb '04) iLife wasn't out....until a week after the machine arrived. So I had to pay the $19.95 to upgrade to iLife even though if I waited a week all new macs would have this included. I thought the price (of the upgrade) would justify Garage Band. (Which to me was the only NEW app included in iLife....the others just minor fixes) Well the PowerBook didn't have the storage space I needed to do the home movie editing that I needed. I didn't want to spend money on upgrading my PC when I could go out and buy a new Mac (dual 2.5Ghz G5, 2GB RAM, 2x250GB hard drives, 2 external Maxtor OneTouch 300GB Firewire/USB 2 drives, 20" Apple Cinema display).
So the new G5 arrived with iLife '04 and I was a bit disappointed in how iMovie performed on it. Granted much quicker than my old Beige G3 but not that much faster than my wife's PowerBook. I thought the G5 CPUs, extra gig of memory, second processor and faster drives would give me a bit more improvement. So I guess I got caught up with all the MacWorld frenzy and paid ($79) for the new release of iLife.
I must say that iMovie HD (iLife '05) is noticeably quicker when rendering transitions. iDVD is also quicker during video rendering before "burning" to disc. So, the upgrade was worth it to me since I've been doing a lot of movie processing lately. I began using Garage Band 2 and wonder why I bought Apple's Soundtrack utility (which appears to be Garage Band on steroids...more than I need now). So my creative fix is being craved for now.
BTW: I also purchased the upgrade to Final Cut Express HD even though I don't have a HD camcorder (My Canon can shoot in 16:9 aspect but that is the closest thing I have) I started using Final Cut Express but was overwhelmed with the interface and went back to iMovie just to create something. I'm supposed to receive the upgrade by Feb 14th (my 1GB iPod shuffle should come at the end of this week. Sorry Jack - I actually went out and bought one of these. Something small and easy to use for my wife) Once I get the HD version I'll begin to learn how to use that. Final Cut allows for much more accuracy with editing controls. Reminds me of Adobe Premiere on my PC. This post went on way to long....sorry. (You would think I would edit this thing but no....I just keep on typing!)
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Jack-The 1GB iPod shuffle arrived last Wed. She made it clear to me that this is going to be hers and not mine to "fuss with". ;-) She wants no assistance from me in using this device. (It was killing me that she waited 2 days to open the box up. If that was mine it would be half-way opened after picking it up from the UPS man.)My wife has only put one CD worth of music on thus far. She getting ready to put another two CDs on. Now she wasn't a heavy user of our 20GB iPod (Would only use it on long plane trips etc.)so I don't think the shuffle will increase her frequency of use but I could be wrong. Her first impressions where "My goodness this is so light. I barely notice it. This is great." The sound quality is very good. Interface wise...with only one CD on it hard to give a practical response to "how is it to navigate 100 or so songs?" The power switch does feel a bit clumsy. It seems to stick a bit when sliding it. Maybe that will ease up over time or maybe she'll get the feel for it. Besides music she would like to port over some of her audio books (audible.com). She says she wants to check out these podcasts I talk about; hoping to find content that she'll like. I'll let you know more as she uses it more...
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