Customer Reviews

The Macintosh iLife 09

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have purchased ALL of Mr. Heid's iLife books. I have found them all to be on target with Apple's iLife Suite. This recent edition is by far his very best. In over 400 pages Jim has shown the novice, as well as the experienced user, that learning this suite can be one of the easiest and most useful set of technologies Apple has produced. What I really like about this book is that I can open a 2-page spread and get a full overview of that aspect of iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, or GarageBand. To me that is a major plus for me. If you want the very best reference book on iLife, you don't have to look any further than Jim Heid's iLife '09.... it's the best on the market.

As a professional photographer and filmmaker, I purchased this book in order to learn how to use the '09 version of Garageband and to attempt to create some of my own film scores. Jim Heid makes learning FUN and EASY with his chapter entitled, "Garageband: Music, Podcasts, and More". I have thoroughly enjoyed learning this AMAZING program thanks to this outstanding book!

What's great is that the author is a musician who guides readers through all the incredible capabilities of Garageband '09. In just a matter of hours I was able to record multiple tracks using Garageband's orchestral instruments, tweak, edit, and fine tune (as if I actually knew what I was doing) thanks to the extremely easy to follow instructions in 'The MacIntosh iLife '09'.

The book also contains excellent and exciting, in-depth chapters such as "iPhoto and Digital Photography", "iMovie: Making Movies", "iDVD: Putting It All Together" and "iWeb: Your World on the Web".

If you want a polished professional guide to using iLife to its highest potential this is THE absolute BEST "missing manual" to purchase. I give it my highest praises!

Wow what a great book! I'm pretty experienced with my Mac and I still learned new things about iLife from this book. I love how it covers all the iLife programs and shows how they work together. I also gave a copy to a friend who just got his first Mac and he loved it, too.

This book is clearly written and fun with lots of humor. The design is beautiful! Just browsing through it inspires me to try new things. A great guide from basic to advanced!

I mainly use the iMovie and iDVD parts of the book. All the extra tidbits help a lot. It is so thorough and always has an answer to my questions. I love it.

This is a great book for learning about the features in iLife '09. It is very easy to understand, the author has provided additional websites for various topics throughout the book. Being new to the Mac world, I have found many things contained in the book that I believed could be done, just didn't know how to do them. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about the various programs contained in the iLife series.

This book is well written and well organized.
I have been a fan of the Macintosh iLife series by Jim Heid since its original inception.
The iLife software has been easy enough to learn on their own, but the books (most recently iLife 09) provide a great reference.
Over the years, the iLife software has become more multi-featured and I have needed a reference book.

Before deciding on a book, definitely peruse through the contents. Also determine what you need: i.e. more iMovie help, less GarageBand help, etc.
This one was it for me.

The ratio of screenshots to explanatory text is perfect for me.
I have perused other books and have found them too text-oriented.
The only weakness in the book, was that there was not as much iDVD instruction as I would like, though it is still adequate.
Also, the book no longer contains a DVD disc as an educational supplement (though content is available through the website).

I have revised my rating. Please see the new information that I have added at the end of this review.

I ordered the Macintosh iLife'09 and all of the editions beginning with '05 . I thought the book was the best sorce of quickly learning the I life applications. I found the DVDs to be the best part of the book because it is a quick and efficent way to learn software. Amazons description of the '09 edition was not clear about whether the DVD was included so I ordered the book with the assumption that it would be part of the deal. WHAT DISAPPOINTMENT. It is not there. Thus three stars that would have been five. We were spoiled. That was the big attraction to this book. Jim Heid did a great job with his DVD. Used it more than the book. It was a great combination! Mr Heid maybe give us just the DVD and skip the book.

ADDITIONAL INFO TO EDIT MY REVIEW!!

I have found that by going to the support video (with material by Mr Heid) on the apple web site and then downloading this video to my computer with Quicktime pro 7 that I have the equivalent of the DVD that once came with these books. My apology to Mr Heid and I wish I could change my rating to FIVE STARS.

iLife '09 is as good as the rest of the iLife books, Jim Heid has done. They are presented in a way that I can grasp the information easily. It is the information that I need, when I need it.

I really like this book. I like the step by step instructions. I have actually learnt things I didn't know from this book. A great book and easy to follow and I also like his writing style, and his humor. A great companion for the Mac.

best book on learning ilife
clear instructions on how to do apps in ilife[[ASIN:0321601343 The Macintosh iLife 09]