It's been a while since the last Aperture update, and along with the roll-out of the new iTunes comes another update for your Mac application. For the users of the image editing tool, Aperture, you can now download it free from Apple. Of course, before anything else, you'd have to upgrade your system to the new Mac OS X 10.4.8 first.

For all you photographers out there wondering what's new, you'd be happy to hear that the program has been made more streamlined. It can integrate with your iLife 06 and iWork 06 apps. You'd be able to set configurations of how you want to store your images in either a managed Aperture Library or your hard drive. You can also export metadata automatically, and even create metadata presets to reduce your errors and redundant typing. Here's some other new stuff included in the new version:

• Advanced Color Controls
• Edge Sharpen
• Improved Loupe
• iPod Sync

Apple is getting busy with its updates, and it's really trying to make all of their applications work together cohesively. Glad to see them really making these tedious functions easier for the users.