Meanwhile, in Cupertino, a mere 15-minute commute from Adobe's San Jose headquarters, Apple finally got it together to release a new version of --well, at least the iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand parts of the suite--but it managed to dismay a lot of folks by ignoring its own Web builder, ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ).

Targeted to creative consumers, the new iLife '11 earned some respectable reviews. But, in keeping with the rising popularity of consumer video, it was iMovie that received most of the kudos for the iLife upgrade.

On the pro side, Apple also updated its photo management program.

One of Apple's most notable releases for artists this year, arguably, has been the . While not geared specifically for artists, the sheer abundance of drawing and painting tools developed for it--Autodesk's , Lucky Clan's , and many others--more than qualify it as a killer creative tool. There's even a now devoted to art creation on the iPad and the iPhone.