by Kevin Siegel 
It's been years in the making but TechSmith has finally updated Camtasia... and boy is this upgrade worth the wait.
First and foremost, Camtasia for Windows (version 9) and the Macintosh (version 3) are now very similar allowing you to share projects across platforms. And while the version numbers are different (I wish TechSmith had settled on a common version number or name), and there are features that still aren't available in both platforms, this is an awesome step in the right direction.
The interface has been overhauled. One common complaint from my students as I teach Camtasia is that the options such as Transitions, Audio Effects, etc. in version 8, while awesome, were often hard to find for new eLearning developers. (The options were sandwiched between panels in Camtasia 8 and often hidden from view as a developer switched from one set of options to another.)
Check out the new interface. Version 9 for Windows is shown below followed by version 3 for the Mac. I think you'll agree they're pretty similar.
And finding the options/tools you need is no longer a challenge because all of the options are neatly aligned at the left of the Camtasia window.
Beyond a new interface, Camtasia comes with an enhanced collection of Library assets that include a collection of high-quality, royalty-free backgrounds, music tracks, icons, and animations.
And if you used to dread publishing your Camtasia projects because the process was painfully slow, you can rejoice. Camtasia takes full advantage of 64-bit processing power that results in blazing-fast rendering times.
I'll be covering specific Camtasia features on both the Mac and Windows version in the coming weeks. If you'd like to learn more about Camtasia (or download the trial and try it on for size), visit the TechSmith website.
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