As Apple continues a march toward all Intel-based computers, those hanging on to perfectly good G5 and G4 computers are left to watch features slowly bleed off.

In the recently released iLife '09 package, iPhoto has left some owners of older Macs wondering where their slide show transitions have gone.

Apple has now released a support document detailing what is missing:

The number of slideshow themes available in iPhoto '09 depends on your Mac's processor and, in some cases, available vRAM:

• Intel-based Mac computers, PowerPC G5 with more than 64MB of vRAM: All iPhoto '09 slideshow themes are available.
• PowerPC G5 with less than 64MB of vRAM: Only Classic, Ken Burns, Scrapbook, Sliding Panels are available.
• PowerPC G4: Classic and Ken Burns are available.

Apple has also changed the minimum specs on Garageband '09, noting that one of the apps most desired features is Intel only: GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better.

It is also rumored that the next version of OS X, Snow Leopard will completely drop support for PowerPC processors. Last year, iMovie dropped PowerPC support, so it looks like the handwriting is on the wall. Apple's push to get consumers and businesses to change to the newer Intel platform will get less and less subtle as time goes on.

Apple just released an update for GarageBand '09 that will fix some problems with the lesson store. According to Apple, "This update improves overall stability and addresses specific issues with downloading lessons from the Learn to Play Lesson Store. It is recommended for all GarageBand 09 users."

You can download the update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the installer package from the Apple Support Downloads website.

Perhaps this has something do do with the recent uproar about PowerPC Mac being unable to play back certain downloaded lessons from the store. If you are using a PPC Mac and find this update does anything for playback, be sure to let us know in the comments or by dropping us a line!

Thanks, Doug!

Our friends over at Ars have discovered a potentially foreboding sign concerning the recently shipping iLife '09. Apparently, GarageBand's new Learn to Play feature, in which various recording artists talk about their songs and "teach" you to play them, will not run on PowerPC Macs.

In the very fine print of the System Requirements section of the iLife '09 page at the Apple online store you'll find: "GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better." One can't help but suspect that this is the start of more of the same to come. When the architecture switch was first announced Apple went out of their way to extol the virtues of Universal binaries. But it was only a matter of time before even consumer software went in this direction. it's yet another sign that Apple sees the PPC Macs as rapidly heading for obsolescence.

After using iPhoto '09 for a couple days, I have come to love the new features, in particular the Places feature. However, one thing that annoyed me is that you cannot use the Multi-Touch feature on newer MacBooks to manipulate the maps (zooming in/out, etc.).

However, thanks to a Tweet-tip from Steven Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith), there is a way to enable this functionality. To add Multi-Touch maps to places in iPhoto '09, just open Terminal.app (/Applications/Utilities) and type (or copy/paste) the following statement and press enter:

defaults write com.apple.iphoto MapScrollWheel -bool YES

When you restart iPhoto, you will notice that you are now able to scroll in/out of the Places maps with ease. If it turns out that you don't want the scrolling feature, just retype the statement, replacing "YES" with "NO."


Thanks for the tip, Steven!

As noted by Robert yesterday, the first boxed copies of iLife '09 reached users today. The two iLife '09 apps that have changed the most are garnering the lion's share of excitement this week. iMovie and iPhoto have some rather dramatic improvements, and I'll detail the iPhoto changes here.

Before you install, please note that the iLife '09 setup will nuke your older iLife apps. You'll need your original install disc to revert. I ran a Spotlight search and those old iLife apps are nowhere to be found. If you think you might want to roll back, be sure to back up your apps and your iPhoto library beforehand.

When you start up iPhoto for the first time it updates your libraries and starts an immediate search for faces in your photos. That search goes on in the background, so you can do other things with iPhoto at the same time.

Here's a rundown on the new features:

The most technically advanced feature is Faces. iPhoto now does some face recognition to help you automatically find people in your bushel of images. You start by identifying a face, and you enter the person's name. iPhoto will then suggest matches in your library, and you can confirm them with a click. iPhoto generates a cork board where you can see one example of each face you have identified. Double-click on that face and it displays all the other faces that match.

The technology is not perfect. It didn't get all the matches right, but when it was wrong I'd have to admit the person it found had a similar face. To try and trick it, I showed it a picture of a parrot. Although there were many similar shots of the same parrot, iPhoto utterly failed to match any of them. I think Faces wants human faces (although there are examples of penguins being recognized, and Mac|Life has tested it out successfully on feline faces).

Check out the gallery for some close ups of iPhoto features and controls, and read on for more notes on the updated features.

Apple issued a press release first thing this morning, noting that iLife '09, announced at Macworld, is shipping tomorrow for $79.

We covered iLife '09's major features, including face detection and geotagging for iPhoto, guitar and piano lessons for GarageBand, and another re-imagining of iMovie.

If you purchased a new Mac on or after January 6, you can upgrade to iLife '09 for $10. iLife is also available in a family pack: five licenses for $99. A box set that includes iLife, iWork, and Mac OS X is $169, and individual music lessons are available separately for $5 each.

iLife '09 requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later. It's available for purchase (among many locations) in the Apple Store online, at Apple retail stores, and Amazon.com.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

With new software from Apple comes new guided tours hosted by clean cut, well-dressed Apple employees in the requisite uniform.

The iPhoto guided tour can be found here and features John, whom we've seen in other guided tours. It's a fun way to check out the new features that were demonstrated during the keynote, as well as others that didn't make the presentation.

The iMovie tour can be found here, and again features our friend John. We must admit that the animated map is pretty cool, even though we expect it to be heavily abused in the next few months.

Additionally, you'll find tutorials for the new versions of iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD here. Check them out and decide if you're willing to pay the $79US upgrade fee.

Earlier today at Macworld Expo, Phill Schiller announced that availability of iLife '09. Not a huge surprise, as a few of us guessed we'd see an iLife update today, but it does offer some cool new features.

iPhoto

iPhoto has been updated with two features called "Faces" and "Places." Faces, as you may have guessed, lets you tag photos by subjects' faces, similar to what Facebook and Picasa have done. iPhoto makes its best guess as to the identity of a subject based on previous tags and asks for confirmation. Of course, Phil called it "..the best technology we've found for face detection."

Places allows for geotagging of photos. Some cameras and the 3G iPhone will use GPS information to tag photos on longitude and latitude. iPhoto then organizes those photos by location, or "place." Also, Flickr and Facebook support are built-in. Those without GPS access can retro-tag photos by hand.

Other iPhoto features include enhanced slideshows and travel books.

Click below to read more about iLife '09

Update: Reader Lou purchased iLife '09 today, and says his receipt shows a ship date of Feb. 09.

For full Macworld Expo coverage, bookmark the TUAW Macworld Expo 2009 landing page. If you missed our liveblog coverage, you can review it here.