Basic lessons
The step-by-step instruction videos are divided into the Learn section and the Play section. Learning is where you just watch the instructor give the lesson. In this stage, you can customise the view of the video to include a close-up of the instrument or musical notations, and you can slow the playback speed down in case you're having trouble keeping up. The instruction videos are really clear and easy to understand, too.
When it comes time to play, you're actually requested to play along with an accompanying band or music track. You can record your lesson with a microphone or an audio input so you can listen back to it. There's a mixer for adjusting the volume of your instructor's instrument, the accompanying music or just your instrument. GarageBand has a metronome to help you keep the correct tempo, plus a guitar tuner to help you tune your guitar. Finally, you can cycle sections repeatedly if you really want to practice a particular lesson over and over again.
Artist lessons
But perhaps the key attraction to GarageBand '09 is Artist Lessons taught by, well, actual artists. And we're not talking just any old glee club here; these artists are internationally renown. They include Sting, Norah Jones, Ben Folds and more. These lessons aren't free, though — you'll have to cough up AU$8.49 for each one. Each lesson only teaches you one song, and the song's difficulty isn't variable; if you buy a medium difficulty piano lesson, you can't really upgrade or downgrade unless you want to buy a whole different lesson.
So what do you get for AU$8.49? Not only do you get the artist teaching you how to play his or her hit single, you also get to learn the story behind the song. It's a nice touch, especially if you're a fan of the artist. You also get lyrics and musical notation and, like the Basic Lessons, you can practice and mix the songs, and slow down any part you might find confusing. We really love that Apple is offering this since it's great to have the musician talk you through a song, but AU$8.49 is still a bit on the steep side. Other additions to GarageBand '09 include a new guitar experience — you get new amps and stompbox effects — plus an improved Magic GarageBand jam. Magic GarageBand, like with GarageBand '08, is a virtual band that lets you jam with other instruments. The latest version now has a full-screen view, and you can create custom mixes, skip through sections of a song, swap out instruments and record your song right there in GarageBand.
iWeb '09
iWeb is Apple's easy website builder and iWeb '09 isn't too different from iWeb '08, save for a few important upgrades. First, you get drag-and-drop widgets that you can just place anywhere on your web page. The widgets include a Countdown clock, iSight photo or iSight movie, a YouTube widget and an RSS feed widget that lets you draw in feeds from other sources (like Flickr or Twitter, for example). You can resize the widgets as well.
Also, now it's possible to transfer your iWeb files directly to any host that supports FTP, so you don't need a MobileMe account to use iWeb. You could do this before, but FTP is now built right into the iWeb interface. There have been reports that iWeb doesn't play so nice with non-MobileMe sites, though, so be aware of that. You can also manage multiple sites thanks to the Site Organizer panel. Last but not least, you can link iWeb to your Facebook account so your friends will know whenever you've updated your site.
iDVD
Last but not least is iDVD. There are no new significant changes to iDVD '09 — we didn't run into any glitches while burning a DVD, anyway. Some of the ready-made visual themes include Cinema and Sunflower.
Help and support
Like with the previous iLife suite, iLife '09 has very good tutorials bundled with the program. We especially like the video tutorials that teach you how to use an application very clearly with step-by-step instructions. iLife buyers receive 90 days of unlimited free telephone support for installation, launch or re-installation. Three years of telephone support is offered through AppleCare, a separate support plan available for a fee. Users can also seek help at the Genius Bars of Apple stores or attend free workshops offered by stores.
Conclusion
If you're completely new to the iLife suite, you'll take to iLife '09 in no time. It's a great way for everyday consumers to organise photos, edit video and create songs and podcasts. The biggest updates in iLife '09 are in iPhoto's Faces and Places, GarageBand's Learn to Play music lessons, and the addition of advanced features to iMovie '09, though we still prefer the more precise tools in iMovie HD. Even if you don't care about most of the updates, we think the face recognition and music lessons alone make iLife '09 worth the money.
8%
1%
I will primarely buy iLife '09 for the Places feature in iPhoto. I'm a geotagging fan and now there is a cool way to handle my geotagged photos. I'm using the iPhone app GeoLogTag for a while now to geotag my Flickr photos, but since it also exports GPX files, I can use it to geotag all my photos (in combination with HoudahGeo).
The good: Places in iPhoto '09