So iLife and iWork suites are out. 2008 is the appellation, and incredible is the performance. I am in awe and quite impressed by the slick interface and the incredible number of features added to the suites. I was a little aghast when I tried to install iWork on my home Mac. It simply refused to go further. As it  turns out, it needs 10.4.10 as the minimal base, a complication due to the fact that I have 10.4.8 at home, and any attempts to update it have led to immediate kernel panics.

But never had I a more noble reason to attempt another update as this, so I took up the challenge and after a few kernel and kext backups, I was there! System updated to 10.4.10, and off I went with the iWork installation. I am impressed to say the least. Not only is the new suite more responsive, it has updates and tweaks to enhance productivity. What’s more, it now supports the Office 2k7 file formats.

Last night I finally got my hands on iLife ’08. And although I have only had the opportunity to test drive iPhoto ’08, I am blown away! It has not only major interface updates, but the photo album once published has an iTunes like cover browser gallery feature. It is simply superb! Makes heavy use of CSS, and it is indeed the simplest and the most comprehensive way to put your gallery online. I shall be uploading the pix from my trip to the US and Canada using iPhoto very soon. I have registered a sub-domain for this express purpose, so watch that space for updates.

While we are on the topic, NYC is the place I’d like to venture next. The Apple Store on 5th Ave. right next to the Central park is where my baby and I made our way to, on Saturday (before my flight back). I stood there agape, at the plethora of Macs on display, not to mention the iPhones. Rissa and I just walked around inside, after she’d snapped a few pix of me just standing and gesticulating outside  the store. The place was crammed with customers and gawkers, and it is singularly the largest Mac store I have been to. We took our merry time trying out the MBPs, the 5th gen iPods – viewing vidz and pix on it, and trying out the Bose Sound canceling headphones (which work amazing by  the by, but cost an arm and a leg), and finally the iPhone. Jobs wasn’t kidding when he mentioned the phone to have revolutionized the  concept of phone and an AIO device. My love and I were just amazed by the capabilities and ease of use. Though personally I would have liked a better input mechanism, as the on screen KBD is a wee awkward to handle – a complaint echoed by Rob Abel at the IMS conference.

We also had had the opportunity to work with the iPhone at the Apple Buffalo store at the Walden Galleria Mall. But there we had just tried the phone capabilities.  The 5th Ave. store introduced us to the Vid and 6th gen iPod capabilities of the phone. Awesome indeed it was. Well more on this later, in addition to pix when I get back!