The iTunes Drain

OK I’m back after installing iTunes - two restarts, a system crash and a heavy memory drain later and I’m finally ready to impart my opinions on the latest version of the music software.

I’m loving iTunes 7, looks fantastic and fixes a chunk of niggles I had with pre-7 versions but also throws up a few new issues that probably won’t be fixed until I get a new computer and version 9 comes out.

First the positives

It generally just looks a lot better, the left hand menu is much better organised, giving you instant info on things like the number of podcasts you haven’t listened to yet and how many downloads are currently in progress.

I’m also loving the option to change the view, killing off that one edge Windows Media Player 11 had over iTunes - I like the list view but with icon option.

The iTunes Store looks much better as well, brighter colours, bigger menu options and a cleaner navigation.

I also really like the ability to right click a track and view it in Windows Explorer, there have been a number of times I’d wanted to quickly access a track to put it on a different mp3 player or compact flash card or memory stick.

The iPod Screen

To be hones though you can throw the rest out of the window as meaningess cosmetics - the new iPod manager is incredible - looks sexy, easy to use and has a hell of a lot more in terms of functionality.

The iPod update software is built into iTunes and is available on the first screen along with other standard player info like the number of songs, version number and player name.

Tabs across the top give you quick admin options to things that were always there before like music (which artists to download) and podcasts.

But also to two new features, an easy to sink Photos option (something missing from iTunes on Windows before), ok so it isn’t that sexy but I’m sure now the functionality exists it will only improve with future versions.

The other big new feature is a contacts manager that lets you select sources for contacts and calendar.

Other than that management is pretty much the same as always except there is now an Audiobooks option in the iPod list where before the only ’special’ option was for Podcasts and I’m guessing there would be TV Shows & Movies as well if I had an iPod.

The only problem I’ve got - and this is a big one that involves the arses of Apple and one I’ve blogged about more than once over the last few years:

WHERE IS THE UK MOVIE & TV STORE!!!!

Other than that giant, massive, kicking me in the head negative I don’t have much else to say, apart from maybe make sure you’ve got at least 512mb of ram if you’re gonna run it on a PC because it’s a real memory drainer.

To state my point one last time - if only Apple would get off their arses and launch a movie & tv download store for the UK.

What makes the whole lack of TV & movie downloads worse is that there’s a big menu option for it on the left hand side right under Music - just to rub it in!

Oh well at least the BBC iPlayer is launching in Spring 2007 - something to look forward to eh and maybe someone else will realise the potential market for tv/movie downloads in the UK eventually.

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