Apple launches iTunes for Windows

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Two days later

It's been two days, and so far, I like it. It's got a nice simple interface that, once you get used to it, is very enjoyable. I like the search function especially- just being able to type a few letters into the search field and have the playlist automatically shorten to display only the tracks that include those letters makes locating a song very quick and easy. I'm surprised that WMP doesn't do this (you have to type in a word and hit "Find Now", which isn't as quick or easy), since Microsoft incorporated this search method in the Contacts app in PocketPC, and it works great.

My initial criticism about Apple ignoring Windows conventions still stands, however, and I've run into a few more examples. For instance, it's a standard Windows convention that columns can be automatically resized to fit the largest item of data within the column by simply double-clicking the divider between the column headers. I don't know if this convention exists in the Mac, however, they removed it in iTunes for Windows. In order to resize a column automatically, I have to right-click the column header and select "Auto Size column", which is a two-step process to perform a function that is extremely common (for me anyway). It's more of a pain to perform an action with two steps instead of one in any case, but even if it weren't, the point is that the convention in Windows is to double-click, and I'm used to it, so I find that I'm constantly double-clicking the divider automatically, only to be momentarily confused and annoyed when the column doesn't resize, and then I remember why.

I still can't decide which is my favorite media player. iTunes has a definite appeal for it's uncluttered interface and ease of use, but I'm a features freak, and not only can Windows Media Player display more types of information about each track than iTunes, I love WMP's ability to assign much more types of information for each song. For example, in addition to the usual ID3 tags like Title, Artist, Album, Genre, etc., I can also assign "Moods" (Happy, Angry, Slow, Bouncy, etc.), the key (A#, etc.), the original album (for tracks that were ripped from compilations), Lyricist, Conductor, and much more. I also love the lyrics feature in WMP, which automatically fromats the lyrics I copy/paste into the track's lyrics field to the correct beat (most of the time- you can edit it if the lyrics start to appear on the wrong beat), which is not only fun to watch (I playback playlists using visualizations at full screen, with the lyrics of the superimposed, the correct lyric appearing at the correct moment), but also makes for great karaoke without having to purchase a karaoke machine. Finally, WMP can automatically grab album art for you, so you don't have to do it manually like iTunes.

So I guess I'll use both for a while. Nice to have a choice, finally (WMP for the Mac came out a looong time ago). As one poster commented so politely below, I should probably include my comments on Apple's iTunes forums. Heading over there right now...

Posted by: tooner440   Posted on: 10/19/03 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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