iDVD

Pros

• Clean user interface
• Great for creating DVD menus
• Can integrate with iTunes, iMovie, etc
• Frequently updates

Cons

• Cost may be more than it's worth
• Sort of antiquated now with discs going out of fashion
• Very slow to copy/burn large files

Although they may seem a little antiquated with today's technology, millions of Mac users still create, copy, edit and watch DVDs, and so a program like Apple iDVD may really come in handy for those tasks.

Overview of Apple iDVD

While there are many people who focus only on digital media because they think the DVD is a dinosaur, there are still many who use digital video discs for home movies and events, copying movies over, or burning them to a DVD to watch elsewhere in their home players. This is especially true for the higher quality Blu-Rays, so there is still a market, and a program like Apple iDVD helps users create custom DVD menus and copy, play and arrange their disc collections with ease.

This is actually a program that's straight from Apple, so you know right away that it constantly updates with the latest software, and that it's going to work perfectly with your Mac and Mac OS X systems. Though you also know that this means the product is not free and that you will have to pay for anything beyond the trial version. The program's language is also only available in English.

How Apple iDVD Works

One of the best things about this program when you open it up is that it gives you the option to go through an actual tutorial on everything. If you figure you know your way around such a program, which is designed to create menus and copy data, then you can skip it. It's a fairly attractive program with a clean layout and clear functionality spelled out for you.

What you're going to do is insert your DVD while the program is on, and you're going to find a menu that allows you to choose from a variety of themes for it, and to title your project. This is also great for slideshows, as you can really add a lot of cool themes and features here. Or it's also ideal for just copying a DVD over and burning a new one.

Apple iDVD Features

The main features from the initial page are Create a New Project, Open as Existing Project, Magic DVD, and OneStop DVD. This allows you to start a new project, work on one you already started, or go into the themes and settings to really get creative.

One thing you want to keep in mind here is that this isn't a full-on editing program or anything that's going to give you total design control. It's mostly just for cataloging your discs by creating menus, and copying and burning them over. It would have been a smash hit 17 years ago with DVD rentals.

Pros and Cons of Apple iDVD

Pros

• Clean user interface
• Great for creating DVD menus
• Can integrate with iTunes, iMovie, etc
• Frequently updates

Cons

• Cost may be more than it's worth
• Sort of antiquated now with discs going out of fashion
• Very slow to copy/burn large files