UGN InfoManager

Joe writes in to rant about iMovie 8, and the fact that it will NOT install on most computers more than 2-3 years old!!!! Joe provides some selected quotes, and a link to the whole story... and points us to David Pogue's journal....

Quoting Pogue:

> iMovie ‘08 is an utter bafflement.

Just when we're learning and really getting the hang of a software product, along comes the next version. Sometimes it's wonderful -- particularly when the software programmers are savvy enough to build new features into a fully functioning, well-accepted package.

Pogue says:

> Most people are used to a product cycle that
> goes like this:
> Release a new version every year or two,
> each more capable than the last.
> Ensure that it's backward-compatible with
> your existing documents.
>
> iMovie ‘08, on the other hand, has been totally
> misnamed. It's not iMovie at all. In fact,
> it's nothing like its predecessor and
> contains none of the same code or design.
> It's designed for an utterly different task,
> and a lot of people are screaming bloody murder.

It seems Apple has removed many of the most liked features, like audio editing and support for plug-ins. Could they be attempting to drive everyone to their higher priced 'pro' product now that they've gotten people hooked on easy movie editing.

One long-standing user group ambassador laments:

> I believe that Apple should rename iMovie '08.
> Instead, call it HomeMovie.
> I can see how it would be a breeze, if you're
> dumping off holiday footage and want to make a
> movie to "share" effortlessly.
>
> But for those of us who learned iMovie's
> counter-intuitive and un-edit-like software
> execution (not to mention abandoning 3rd party
> vendors), this piece of software is useless.
> Is Apple trying to drive up sales of FCE and FCP?
>
> I hate to say this but Apple is starting to
> act like Microsoft, circa the late 90's.

Pogue says:

> The new iMovie doesn't accept plug-ins, either. (clip)
> You can't add chapter markers for use in iDVD, which
> is supposed to be integrated with iMovie.
> Bookmarks are gone.
> Themes are gone.
> You can no longer export only part of a movie.
> All visual effects are gone -- even basic options
> like slow motion, reverse motion, fast motion (clip)
> And you can't have more than one project open at a time.
> Incredibly, the new iMovie can't even
> convert older iMovie projects.

It looks like what Apple is trying to tell you is
KEEP iMovie 6 -- DO NOT UPGRADE.

Now, if you must have version 8, then install the upgrade on a different Mac, and then run BOTH. But beware of the cross-compatibility and backwards-compatibility issues.

Most disturbing? Pogue says:

> On top of all that, this more limited iMovie
> has steep horsepower requirements that rule
> out most computers older than
> about two years old.

You can read David's blog posting at :

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

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