MSN Messenger 6.0.3
Bug and performance fixes.
Download
What time is it?
and a rather unique time telling screen saver, try PolarClock.
via Tuaw.
Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.7 Update
Link
Leopard Dock
Apple AirPort Basestation Update 2007-002
Not me with my old Snow one.
Mac Mini
Combo Drive - 1.83Ghz , 1GB memory and 80GB hard drive £399
SuperDrive - 2.0Ghz, 1GB memory and 230GB hard drive £499
AirPort Extreme
Oddly, the UK tech page mentions nothing about the Gigabit Ethernet hmmm.
iLife '08
iPhoto '08 includes the ability to organise your photos by event, which seems a great way of dealing with thousands of photos (I've 3000+) which you can skim through, you can now also hide photos you'd rather not have showing and improved editing.
iMovie '08 is not just an update, but a completely new application, along with icon. Creating a video/movie has never been that simple, but from the demo Steve gave it really does look like they've come up with a quick and easy way to make them without sitting for hours. It's all very drag and drop. You can even directly upload to YouTube.
iWeb '08 the simple web creation app, not that I've ever used it, has also been given a make-over. Widgets allow you to more easily integrate content from other sites (YouTube, GoogleMaps etc.). Drag and drop creation of index pages, and finally you can easily upload to your own personal domain and not just .mac.
Garageband '08 now includes magic, a way of adding instruments to your music based on genre. Really it's another application I've never used much, I tend to just create noise, but who knows? Maybe the magic will work for me?
iDVD seems to have mainly gained more themes and improved performance. Really I think Apple thinks the notion of DVD is a bit old hat and why don't you just publish onto the web instead?
It's well worth looking at the tutorials to get an idea of these new features.
The new suite also offer improved .mac integration, .mac itself has been upgraded to 10GB of storage and with all the new gallery features, you'll probably need it. iPhoto's online gallery feature does look very polished, so much so you might think you're in iPhoto.
So, the bad news; support of G4 Macs is coming to an end, as many of these new Applications require a G5 or intel processor. I think that's fair enough; but when will they make a lightweight laptop?
iWork '08
Pages, the word processor which had been more towards page layout now had two distinct modes, one for page layout and the other for word processing. There are also new templates. I'd like to give Pages a try.
Keynote, the better presentation app, I am always impressed with the richness of Apple's presentation made in Keynote - it makes those old Powerpoint presentations I used to have to sit through look distinctly amateur affairs (ok, it was a long time ago, even so). There are now new animated text effects, transitions (could watch them all day), and a to be animations.
Numbers, a spreadsheet from Apple! They've not made one for quite some time. I was once a bit of a spreadsheet aficionado, which I still find amusing. I spent hours with Excel and a spreadsheet much superior spreadsheet at the time called Wings, which later became Claris Resolve*
I wish I'd had Numbers back then, it does seem on the surface to be a much better way of dealing with data. Using a canvas where you can add elements of spreadsheets and charts, and the printing out of reports looks much easier, I remember messing around with that stuff for hours. There are intelligent tables for building formulas, you can import from Excel into Numbers.
Take a look at the tutorials, there is also a 30 day trial version available.
How Microsoft will take Apple's push into spreadsheets is anyone's guess, Microsoft Office has already been pushed back to next year.
* Claris was a spun out software subsidiary of Apple in the late 80s & early 90s, among others they had FileMaker, which is still going, MacWrite the word processor, MacDraw a drawing app, Claris Resolve for presentations and Resolve and then Claris Works, which went on to become Apple Works when Apple brought Claris back into the fold. It's interesting that Apple are now effectively recreating technologies they once had. I feel a little sentimental for MacDraw & MacWrite. Claris Homepage was also one of the best wysiwyg web html editors I'd used, not that there were many at the time. I do wonder if somehow the code from these pass applications at all live on in their successors.
Keyboards
There are two models
of keyboard; wired and
wireless, both are reminiscent of the keyboards on
the MacBooks. Wide spacing of
keys etc. and made from, you got it, Aluminium!
The USB 2 wired keyboard is now much thinner than the
plastic trough
keyboard
it replaces, I think this can only be a good thing,
but why no wireless version?
The wireless Bluetooth keyboard has shrunk down,
missing the numberpad, the thought behind this is
you're more likely to use a wireless keyboard on your
lap. Although Apple seems to have missed a trick
here: What could've been an ideal keyboard for using
with a MacMini under a television, or just using your
iMac at more a distance has been let down due to them
missing any form of pointing device. Why didn't they
include a trackpad on it? So you're stuck with still
needing a wireless mouse, presumably to rub on your
leg?
I'd have expected something like the
Keysonic ACK-540
RF, but perhaps more
Apple looking.
There's been some rearrangement of keys for some
functions like expose, brightness, volume etc. I'm
sure that'll be something to get used to, and I
expect the arrangement will find its way onto the
MacBook eventually.
The other supposed controversial thing is the removal
of the
- Apple symbol on the
Command key, and instead the use of the words Command
with the Command clover leaf symbol. I'm glad it's
gone, it's done nothing but confuse people, you can
read some history as to how it got there
here. There
is some confusion here as to whether they've
removed it on the UK keyboard, the Apple still
appears on the UK iMac page, but not on the
US one, but; the Apple doesn't
appear on the UK Keyboard page. I do hope we've
not been left with the Apple, it'll just create
even more confusion. It's the Command key
dammit!
Update: It appears the Apple has vanished from the UK
page as well, must've been a photo error.
New iMac
`
Ah a new
iMac, it's not so
different from the last one really in looks. It's
thinner and now made from Aluminium (or Aluminum)
and Glass, although I'm sure there's plastic in
there too, but it's got great recycling
possibilities Steve Jobs said. I just thought Macs
went on forever, recycle a Mac? It looks perhaps
more solid than the previous white plastic model
and I'm sure it'll have its instant haters and
lovers, I think the complainers will just be
nitpicking, I'd describe as handsome.
There is now no longer a 17" model; instead, two 20"
and two 24" models.
20-inch 2.0Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
250GB HD
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT / 128MB Memory
£799
20-inch 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
320GB HD
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro / 256MB Memory
£949
24-inch 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
320GB HD
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro / 256MB Memory
£1,149
24-inch 2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
500GB HD
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro / 256MB Memory
£1,459
Prices from the Apple Store, and full tech
specs here.
Overall
machines are now faster and expandable to 4GB of
memory and 1 Terabyte of internal storage. Memory is
easily upgraded via a slot at the bottom of the
machine. All the screens are now glossy and also
include Firewire 800.
They come with a Mighty Mouse and the new wired
keyboard. I'd have thought they'd enclose the remote
in aluminium as well, seems a strange oversight.
You can watch the new ad here.
Apple Special Event - August 2007
iTunes 7.3.2
It's meant to be available via Software Update, but it wasn't appearing for me, you can also download it from their site.
Updates
Security Update 2007-007 and Safari Beta Update 3.0.3
AirPort Extreme Update 2007-004, for those with AirPort Extreme
and for those who aren't in the UK - iPhone Firmware 1.0.1
Also available via Software Update.