Mac Lists

7 Great Apple Software Gifts

This holiday season is the perfect time to buy software packages that can complement your loved one's Mac computer and Apple has some wonderful applications at reasonable prices. In this posting, I'll describe 7 of those applications and give you reasons to purchase each of them.

1.  Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)

If you or someone you know is still using Mac OS X 10.3 or 10.4, now is the perfect time to update to Mac OS X 10.5, also known as Leopard. This latest version of the Mac operating system is filled with great new features. Some of these extras include:

• Quick Look for easy one-click viewing of files and images
• Time Machine for automatic backups of your valuable data
• Spaces for easy switching between open applications
• Improved Spotlight for faster and more powerful searching
• Better Automator for easier development of applications
• Enhanced Mail for more personalized and better managed email messages

Apple just updated Leopard to version 10.5.6 so it is even better and more stable than before. Delight that special person in your life with a copy of Mac OS X 10.5 to make their Mac computing experience faster and better than ever.

2.  iLife '08

All new Mac computers come with iLife '08, but if you have an older Mac with an earlier version of iLife, now is a good time to update to the latest version. Like previous iLife packages, iLife '08 includes iPhoto, iWeb, iMovie, GarageBand, and iDVD, a super collection of multimedia applications for one low price. Some of these versions are huge improvements over the previous ones. If you use iPhoto, updating to the newest version is worth the price of the entire package because of the new additions, such as automatic organization into events, and the greatly improved speed of the program.

iMovie was completely revamped with iLife '08 and, for the beginning user who never used the previous version, iMovie '08 is a quick and easy entry into video creation. If, on the other hand, you're a power iMovie user, Apple includes a download for iMovie '06 with the iLife '08 package. The other three applications were also enhanced when the package was updated, so this makes the perfect gift for the multimedia Mac user on your gift list.

3.  iWork '08

iWork '08 is Apple's low-end answer to Microsoft Office. Although iWork cannot compete as a complete and powerful office suite, it is excellent for the home user, especially with the addition of Numbers in the latest version of the package. Numbers is an Excel-compatible spreadsheet application that makes creating spreadsheets easier than ever. Just select a pre-designed template and enter your data for the two-step approach or design your own spreadsheet from scratch. You can add graphics and comments to any sheet and easily create charts or maps of your data.

Keynote, the Powerpoint-compatible application of the iWork '08 package, includes thirty-five great themes to get a beginner started on creating a powerful visual presentation. You can add tables, charts and animations to your presentation and finish it off with voice-over recordings for a true multimedia show.

The last piece of the iWork '08 package is Pages, the Microsoft Word compatible word processor. Although not nearly as powerful as Word or the free, open-source OpenOffice or NeoOffice, Pages is probably more than sufficient for the average home user. Like the other two applications in the package, Pages includes pre-designed templates to get the beginner started. But Pages also has powerful features for the advanced user, such as creating a table of contents or adding footnotes to a document. For the Mac users on your gift list who need a home office package, iWork '08 might be just right for them.

4.  MobileMe

MobileMe is Apple's online service package. I'm a great fan of MobileMe because of its many features. You get, in one package, a complete syncing service, an easy-to-use online interface, a great email service that controls for spam, a huge amount of disk space and bandwidth, a web hosting service, and more.

The syncing feature of MobileMe is easy to use and can be set to sync your computers and iPhone or iPod Touch to the online MobileMe application. You can sync your email accounts and messages, Address Book contacts, Safari bookmarks, and iCal calendars.

The MobileMe package includes an excellent IMAP email service with spam filtering that is far superior to that of other accounts. Unlike some other accounts that place all spam in a junk mailbox, MobileMe filters out the spam before it ever reaches your mailbox so very little junk mail actually gets to you.

Another benefit of MobileMe is the 20 GB of online storage space that comes with the service. Because your MobileMe iDisk can be mounted on the desktop, you can add photos, music files, videos, websites, and other files to the iDisk just as you would to any hard drive.

For $99 a year (or less from Amazon), you get the ability to sync data on all of your computers and your iPhone or iPod Touch, a good email service with excellent spam filtering, an easy-to-use hosting service, and enough offsite storage for your email, websites and important data. Start the New Year right with this great package.

5.  Apple Apperture 2

Aperture 2 is like iPhoto on steroids. If iPhoto '08 can't handle all of your photo managing needs, Aperture can. With Aperture, you can import images, including raw images, from cameras, storage devices, and iPhoto. Once in Aperture, your photos can be edited and used to create multiple projects that can contain up to 100,000 images in each project. If you don't have space on your hard drive for all your images, with Aperture you can easily store them on external drives or CDs and DVDs. And after you've finished working on editing your photos, you can enjoy them on your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV by using Aperture's sync feature. Managing an enormous collection of photos doesn't get better or easier than this.

6.  Final Cut Express 4

Final Cut Express 4 is for users who need more than iMovie can provide but who don't need the professional level power of the full Final Cut application. With Final Cut Express 4, you have easy drag-and-drop editing combined with powerful realtime editing tools that will let you become a great amateur video producer. If you've been using iMovie '08, you can easily import those projects into Final Cut Express 4, so maybe now is the time to upgrade to this next level of film making.

7.  Logic Express 8

Logic Express is for the musician who has become bored with GarageBand. Logic Express 8 is a full music development application that lets you write, record, edit, and mix music to create multitrack recordings. To enhance your native talents, Apple has included 36 instrument plug-ins, thousands of royalty-free Apple loops and over 12 GarageBand instruments in the Logic Express 8 package. This is the perfect application for the developing musician on your gift list.

As you can see, Apple has great applications for all of the Mac users on your gift list. There's Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) for the user who hasn't yet made the leap to the latest version of the operating system, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Express, and Logic Express for the multimedia junkies on your list, iWork for the business-oriented individuals, and MobileMe for the Internet users.