Gone are the days when the iLife programs went under the clumsy collective term of iApps and had everyone confused as to whether they were free, cheap or expensive. Since iLife '04, the bundle has had a clearly defined position in the market and a warm regard from its users.

Building on this stability, we now have iLife '05. Most of the changes seem to be for automation or services, rather than actual new functions, allowing beginners to get 'hands off' project results. There are also a few tools designed to make applications such as iPhoto and iTunes a one-stop solution for music and photography requirements, rather than just a link in the chain.

We were quite surprised to discover that a big fat PowerMac G5 running OS X v10.3 still wasn't quite up to the system requirements of iLife '05. Instead, we had to download a 79MB combined update to OS X v10.3.4. Not too much of a problem if you've got broadband, but quite a hefty chunk if you haven't.

As you'll have guessed by the suffix, iMovie HD is now capable of working with either 1080 interlaced or 720 progressive high-definition video. You'll also notice another new feature when you start up. Where iMovie used to ask you whether you wanted a new or existing project, iMovie HD adds a third option: Magic iMovie.

Click yes and you'll be presented with choices of title, soundtrack music (from your iTunes library) and default transitions. Once you've made your choices iMovie automatically takes control of your camcorder, imports all your footage and cuts it together. It can also send the finished product directly to iDVD for burning should you want it to.

So simple

For absolute novices or those simply looking to archive footage, it will be a comfortingly easy method of getting footage from tape to other formats. Unlike most other automated edits available on the market, a Magic iMovie can be altered after its creation, letting you re-order clips and add different transitions.

The interface is the old familiar iMovie all-in-one, as simple and intuitive as ever. It has a large viewer window at the top left, a pane to the right that displays clips, transitions, effects and the like, and a Timeline across the bottom that can be toggled between storyboard and Timeline style layouts.

Importing footage to iMovie is as simple as always, and offers you the options of DV, DV Widescreen, MPEG4 and iSight (footage from Apple's own webcam), as well as the progressive and interlaced HD options that are the new version's major selling point.

The other important new feature is the ability to cut and paste clips from one project to another. It's not an incredibly creative feature, but it is one that will save you a lot of time as you avoid having to sift through the clip library on your hard drive.

Synchronisation with other programs in the iLife bundle is an important factor for iMovie. Using the tabs beneath the clip window, you can access your iTunes library and iPhoto albums with a single mouse click, or send your project straight from iMovie into iDVD, complete with chapter markers that you've dropped into your Timeline for incorporation into your DVD menu.

When it comes to output options, you've got a nice range of choices: you can send finished projects back to the camcorder, reduce the frame-rate and resolution for email or web posting, convert it to QuickTime for burning onto a CD, or even export it to a Bluetooth device.