iTunes for Windows...NOW AVAILABLE!!

[Dimwhit]

Reading this thread I was very excited, I've been waiting for iTunes for months, since the Windows version was announced. Well, I'm still waiting. Turns out the Windows version only runs on Winows 2000 and XP. It won't even install on other versions. ...Sigh... Color me disappointed.

You can lament with many Mac users. It doesn't work with Mac OS 9, only OSX, and many Mac users still haven't/won't use the new OS, so they're out of luck.

I can understand people not wanting or being able to upgrade, but there will certainly come a time when there won't be much choice. On the Mac end, Apple no longer supports OS 9, so in a couple years, it will be impractical to use. I suspect that at some point (maybe when Longhorn is released), Microsoft will have to stop supporting Win98 and older.

Here's to hoping you'll be able to use the store at some point!

 

[EricNoah]

I'm hooked!

One thing that surprised me is that audiobooks, when burned to CD, really swell in file size. A 21mb download, which was 1hr 30min, filled one CD and part of a second.

I think I might do the iPod thing though, and with the car adapter Kara and I will never run out of listening material on long trips.

 

[Enforcer]

Yeah, now that I have iTunes, I think an iPod is in my future as well. I could've bought one before, but I didn't like MusicMatch Jukebox all that much.

I love how the aac format is smaller than mp3s, it gives you more bang for your iPod buck.

Still, I'm stuck deciding between spending $300 on an iPod or on a guitar (I really want to learn to play).

 

[Dimwhit]

One thing that surprised me is that audiobooks, when burned to CD, really swell in file size. A 21mb download, which was 1hr 30min, filled one CD and part of a second.

Does your cd player play mp3 discs? If so, you can burn that audiobook file onto an mp3 disc rather than an audio disc. When you burn to an audio disc, iTunes converts the file on the fly to the AIFF format (I think), and in that format, a standard CD only fits 74 minutes (or 80 minutes for some). That's why it took more than a full disc. But if you can, just burn an mp3 disc. The AAC file you downloaded from the music store gets converted to mp3 on the fly as it is burned to the disc. Then the 21 MB file will take up about that much space (maybe a little more, since mp3 files are a little bigger than AAC). If you go to the prefs, you can tell iTunes to burn an audio disc or an mp3 disc.

I think I got all that right. I'm sure if I didn't, someone will be more than happy to let me know.

 

[Enforcer]

Reading this thread I was very excited, I've been waiting for iTunes for months, since the Windows version was announced. Well, I'm still waiting. Turns out the Windows version only runs on Winows 2000 and XP. It won't even install on other versions. ...Sigh... Color me disappointed.

-Dave

Well, if you can afford it, I highly recommend Windows XP. All the jokes that Mac users make about the blue screen of death simply don't work on XP; it's by far the most stable PC OS I've ever used. And, if you or someone you know is a student or teacher, you should be able to pay a much cheaper educational price for it.

 

[Dimwhit]

Well, if you can afford it, I highly recommend Windows XP. All the jokes that Mac users make about the blue screen of death simply don't work on XP; it's by far the most stable PC OS I've ever used. And, if you or someone you know is a student or teacher, you should be able to pay a much cheaper educational price for it.

I agree with Enforcer. It's worth upgrading to XP (notice how I didn't suggest he get a Mac ). I do have to admit, though, that with my PC at work, I found Win2k to be a little more stable. In XP's defense, however, I'm using an older machine that's probably been around for 4 years or so. With a newer machine, I'm sure I'd have much better luck with XP. And yep, no blue screen of death! (The older Mac OS 9 didn't have that. It just had the frozen "deer in the headlights" look to it--everything looked normal, but it just stood there, frozen!)

 

[RC Hagy]

(The older Mac OS 9 didn't have that. It just had the frozen "deer in the headlights" look to it--everything looked normal, but it just stood there, frozen!)

Now you darn well know one was just a restart away from going again.

One thing I noticed with 9 was outside of the lack of memory protection (how did you old mac people deal without that for so long?!?), most crashes were program specific. I'll take OSX any day.

As for Apple supporting older OSs... to much backwards compatibility makes for an unsteady program (this is from wintel and mac experience). That and has been said... they have tossed out a good half of mac users with that forward thinking stuff.


Another note -


Any mac users download the latest Mac iTunes update? Enough new to make the download worthwhile? How about the visualizer... any noticeable improvements on that (couple glasses of 'big people grapes' and I am set for hours... who needs tv!)?


Hagy
Vermont

 

[Psychotic Dreamer]

At first I was put off by the look and feel of ITunes when I first downloaded the other day. Today at work I brought my "Weird Al" CD's with me and decided I would rip them all in ITunes and listen to them. The more I use the program the more I like it. I like the way the playlists are done, I love the smart playlists and the music store looks interesting. I've only browsed it a bit. I must say the funniest thing I have run into with the music store is they have the soundtracks to A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, but not the other Star Wars movies. Just thought that was really amusing.

Now all I need to do is save my pennies for a IPod and I think I'll be happy. Anyone wanna donate to the get Mike an IPod Fund?

 

[EricNoah]

One thing I'm not seeing with the music store is a sense of community -- people like to talk about music, it seems natural that there should be some way to tie in all the cross-hyperlinking with some forums or chatrooms or something. Maybe something even like how Amazon has user-created lists of best books for a given genre or topic, or reader reviews, stuff like that. It will be interesting to see how the service grows and develops.

 

[Aeolius]

One thing I'm not seeing with the music store is a sense of community

That's because, until last Thursday, iTunes was a Mac-only product. We Mac users tend to congregate on Mac-related boards (macnn.com, maccentral.com, macrumors.com, etc), to discuss matters Macintosh.

I do agree with you, though. Apple could build a forum or chat interface into iTunes Music Store. If I selected the New Age genre, Chat and Forums tabs for fans interested in that style should be available. If I make a selection, I should be able to rate the album later or leave feedback for others to see.

This reminds me of AOL's early days, when it was still known as ALE; AppleLinkersonal Edition. There were no DOS/Windows users on the service back then (early 80s), just Apple II and Mac users.

(edit: here's an update http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/oct/20itunes.html One million copies of iTunes for Windows and one million songs downloaded...in 3 days!)