Finally...Apple release Aperture 2.0...Looks like the rumours that the next version of Aperture might be tied to Mac OS X 10.5.2 were true.
Update: Took the trial for a quick spin. Seems excellent so far! Best stuff so far:
- Big speed improvements (as tested on my Macbook Pro). Very useable on a laptop now.
- Tools like Vibrancy and Definition (like "Clarity" in Lightroom...Apple's term for it is better though :-) )
- Easy to miss: custom colour correction. You can select up to 5 colour-dropper defined colour to adjust luminance, saturation and hue on. VERY neat. Although not as visually exciting as Lightroom direct-on-image adjustment, it seems to be more powerful than this.
- Overall a much improved interface. Colour sliders now have preview gradients on them, double clicking resets the slider and metadata, adjustments and projects have been collapsed into a single pane.
- Output sharpening. Doesn't seem to be based on output DPI though, but at least it is settable, previewable and separate from "regular" sharpening. I'm pretty sure someone will come up with good settings for various DPIs.
- Apparently Aperture 2.0 now takes editing plug-ins! That makes it the first major (yes, Bibble has had this for a while) RAW management tool that allows third party image enhancements. I'm just aching to see a NoiseNinja or NoiseWare plugin and preferably also a PhotoKit Sharpener one. This feature is going to totally change the game! Update: Pixelgenius already said "not likely to happen" to a PK sharpener plugin
- Baseline DNG support is smart. That way Apple doesn't need to rush out camera support.
There is loads more to talk about, but most of it has been said here and here (both link to the always excellent Aperture Professional site).
I'll make some general observations though:
Aperture is clearly still important to Apple. Apple does not give up easily. Looking at the time it took the Aperture team, it is clear that this is a pretty major rewrite. I would consider it likely that future versions will be easier for them to develop. That means (hopefully) more frequent updates.
On the other hand, Apple's high level of secrecy, coupled with the time it took to release this, much needed, upgrade, made for a lot of angry users. All Apple would have had to do, was to post one single "What would you like to see in Aperture 2.0" message on the forum, say 2 months ago. You don't have to say when it will be released or what kind of stuff you are thinking of including. Just say you are working on a new version. No big deal.
Anyway, all of that is water under the bridge now. 2.0 is here and I'll post some more detailed comments as soon as I have the retail version installed.
