Mac apps: keeping you productive and connected
Apple has introduced a streamlined office suite for Macs without the high price tag of Microsoft Office. At about one third of the cost, iWork offers a suite of productivity tools to help you both at home and at work. The suite has three main components:
- Pages ‘08 is the word processor component for all your letter and document needs.
- Keynote ‘08 will help you create superb presentations quickly and easily in multimedia.
- Numbers ‘08 is your typical spreadsheet application, but with an Apple spin to it.
The iWork suite has a number of possibilities both for work and for home. There are no complicated tutorials needed to learn this new productivity software. The intuitive interface makes creating documents, slide show presentations and graphical spreadsheets a snap. Since it is integrated with other Apple applications, you will have the ability to include all sorts of media types for documents and presentations that are professional as well as stunning. Oh, yes, and these documents work with Microsoft Office for ease of transition.
For home users, iLife will simplify handling all your media types from photos to video. The application also provides for a greater ease of interactivity in today’s social web environment. This suite does so much that it can be addictive so Buy The Right Mac does recommend that the more RAM your Mac has, the better off you will be. Here’s a rundown on these great tools:
- iPhoto makes it easier than ever to organize your photos by grouping them by Events
- iMovie will help you create a movie in literally just a few minutes
- GarageBand is a top audio composition and podcasting application
- iWeb offers many ways to create a unique, customized website of your own
- iDVD is a super easy way to create a DVD of your movie or slideshows
- .Mac Web Gallery will have you sharing your content in just a click of the mouse
To use it to its fullest extent, Buy The Right Mac recommends that you use a fast Mac to run iLife on - you’ll need at least 1GB of memory and a 1.9GHz or better processor especially for the video handling in iMovie. You should know that there is an annual subscription fee associated with using the .Mac web services but it’s not necessary to use the iLife bundle. The iLife suite is now being bundled in new Macs but is also available to those who want to upgrade at a reasonable price.
MobileMe services can help you stay connected and in sync from work to home and back again. This new suite of web applications that work with Apple’s MobileMe service can coordinate your emails, calendar and contacts from your home computer to your work computer and even your cell phone. The information is stored on an online server and will automatically update all your devices whenever you make a change.
Filed Under Applications |
Tagged With ilife, iwork, mobileme
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