New Software Reigns Supreme at Macworld

While this week's Macworld in San Francisco was rumored to usher in numerous new hardware devices, the biggest news from Apple ended up being software.

In a long-expected move, Apple unveiled its own Web browser based on the KHTML rendering engine found in KDE's Konqueror. The browser, dubbed Safari, features a minimal user interface sporting the brushed metal theme. Safari includes a built-in Google search and a "SnapBack" feature that returns you to a page you visited previously. Apple CEO Steve Jobs touted the speed of Safari in his keynote address, claiming it was "three times faster than (Internet Explorer) on the Mac."

A public beta release of Safari is available for download and includes a bug button for sending feedback to Apple.

Jobs also announced Keynote, a new application for creating presentations, which he has been beta testing for the last year. "We built this for me, and so I wanted to share it with you," said Jobs. Keynote supports PDF and QuickTime formats, and can import and export Microsoft PowerPoint files. While it was handed out to attendees of Jobs' address, Keynote will retail for $99 USD.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Apple will make the upcoming iPhoto 2 and iMovie 3 upgrades free to download starting January 25. But a new package called iLife -- containing iTunes 3, iPhoto 2, iMovie 3 and iDVD 3 on DVD -- will be sold at retail outlets for $49 USD. iPhoto 2 features a new blemish remover and iMovie 3 adds numerous visual and sound effects.

The iApp upgrades follow last week's iCal 1.0.2 update and the final release of iSync 1.0.

Closing out the list of new software is Final Cut Express, a digital video editing package designed for those not needing the full power of Apple's Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Express is optimized for the DV format and costs $299 USD.