Well, you have to admit its not overly surprising this is occurring considering the switch to Intel processors in Macs occurred over two years ago: several media outlets have aptly noted that iLife ’09 has begun to lock out PowerPC users.
This trend started with last year’s version of iLife, which limited use of iMovie to G5 processors only which rendered it useless for any Mac PowerPC portable. That limitation continues in iLife ’09, but GarageBand has also now begun to limit functionality.
GarageBand’s standard application appears to still work. However, if you want to make use of its Learn to Play functionality, you must access it with an Intel-based Mac.
Apple has also been rumored — although it has not confirmed — to be doing away with PowerPC support in Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard.” It makes sense: limiting the OS’s capability to support legacy hardware is a trap that Windows has fallen into, and Mac OS should avoid.
For those of you holding out: upgrade. Now is a better time than ever to pick up a new Mac. The added functionality, including the capability to run Windows when you need to (and I bet some of us Macheads thoroughly enjoy running Windows IN a window) is more than enough for me.
In the end however, supporting its legacy hardware this long was a good move for Apple and gave its users ample time to prepare for what would have been an inevitable switch.