Back to XP from Vista (iTunes the homewrecker)

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Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
When I first installed Vista, I had quite nice things to say about it. One month later and my home machine is running Windows XP.



Why? iTunes.



iTunes for Windows is a relatively poor application, even on XP. Its feature set is fantastic, but its actual performance is inferior to every other media player that I have installed on my machine.

- Loading a large library takes a long time.

- Ejecting an iPod takes far too long.

- It absolutely chugs when downloading a podcast (I cannot comprehend why it does this).

- The actual quality of audio playback is poor compared to other audio players.



I need something that will keep track of podcasts and automatically update my iPod with them. Instead of shuffling 3 or 4 different apps for these purposes in Vista, I resigned myself to live without the things I had grown to love in Vista, and go back to Windows XP, the reliable old wife I had grown comfortable with.



Please, Apple, release a competent version of iTunes so that I can go back!

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    You'd be amazed at how well it runs on OSX.
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  • Reply 2 of 12
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    I'm with Spam on this one.
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  • Reply 3 of 12
    Marvinmarvin Posts: 15,585moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat View Post


    iTunes for Windows is a relatively poor application, even on XP. Its feature set is fantastic, but its actual performance is inferior to every other media player that I have installed on my machine.

    - Loading a large library takes a long time.

    - Ejecting an iPod takes far too long.

    - It absolutely chugs when downloading a podcast (I cannot comprehend why it does this).

    - The actual quality of audio playback is poor compared to other audio players.



    Glad to hear it. I'd hate to think I pay more money to Apple for Windows users to have the same experience.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat View Post


    I resigned myself to live without the things I had grown to love in Vista, and go back to Windows XP, the reliable old wife I had grown comfortable with.



    I guess there couldn't have been that much in the new system if you are giving up all those amazing things for one simple media player from Apple for which there are many alternatives.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat View Post


    Please, Apple, release a competent version of iTunes so that I can go back!



    Yeah, c'mon Apple, make better free software for your main desktop rival.



    Let's face it they'd do the same for you. *cough* Windows Media Player, Office, <insert anything Microsoft makes>
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  • Reply 4 of 12
    audiopollutionaudiopollution Posts: 3,226member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat View Post


    iTunes for Windows is a relatively poor application, even on XP. Its feature set is fantastic, but its actual performance is inferior to every other media player that I have installed on my machine.

    - Loading a large library takes a long time.

    - Ejecting an iPod takes far too long.

    - It absolutely chugs when downloading a podcast (I cannot comprehend why it does this).

    - The actual quality of audio playback is poor compared to other audio players.



    iTunes on OSX isn't exactly a speed-freak when it's working with a large library. When I get home tonight, I'll time how long it takes to perform the first three items in your list. Editing metadata is excrutiating.



    I have approximately 33,000 songs in my library; all are mp3 files and none lower than 192 kbps. If I recall correctly, my library is somewhere near 250 gigs. I've actually stopped adding my archive to iTunes, as the amount of time it takes to deal with each individual album (insofar as fully tagging, adding artwork, etc.) is beyond my level of patience.



    I can't speak for the sound quality vs. iTunes on Vista ... I'll have to give that a try, too.
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  • Reply 5 of 12
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    I have to agree, editing metadata or adding artwork in iTunes is very slow on my iMac G5 with 2GB RAM. I don't understand why it takes 30 seconds to a minute to add an image to 10 or so songs (an album's worth). I have plenty of RAM, so I don't understand where the slowness is coming from.
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  • Reply 6 of 12
    Do you not have a Mac?
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  • Reply 7 of 12
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    It's always been a little odd to me that someone who's pushing 10k posts on a mac board has never owned a mac, at least to my knowledge. This isn't a personal evaluation. It's just odd that someone who seems to like macs doesn't own one.



    Back on topic, iTunes is indeed mysteriously slow even on OS X. I think it's partly because Apple coded it to "play nice" as an app that will almost always be running in the background.
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  • Reply 8 of 12
    audiopollutionaudiopollution Posts: 3,226member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    It's always been a little odd to me that someone who's pushing 10k posts on a mac board has never owned a mac, at least to my knowledge. This isn't a personal evaluation. It's just odd that someone who seems to like macs doesn't own one.



    He's here for the witty banter in PO.
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  • Reply 9 of 12
    lfe2211lfe2211 Posts: 507member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat View Post


    When I first installed Vista, I had quite nice things to say about it. One month later and my home machine is running Windows XP.



    Why? iTunes.



    iTunes for Windows is a relatively poor application, even on XP. Its feature set is fantastic, but its actual performance is inferior to every other media player that I have installed on my machine.

    - Loading a large library takes a long time.

    - Ejecting an iPod takes far too long.

    - It absolutely chugs when downloading a podcast (I cannot comprehend why it does this).

    - The actual quality of audio playback is poor compared to other audio players.



    I need something that will keep track of podcasts and automatically update my iPod with them. Instead of shuffling 3 or 4 different apps for these purposes in Vista, I resigned myself to live without the things I had grown to love in Vista, and go back to Windows XP, the reliable old wife I had grown comfortable with.



    Please, Apple, release a competent version of iTunes so that I can go back!



    I also have to question if there are not other things about Vista that made you revert to XP. Could you comment on this please? I hated to lose Clipmate , RoboForm and to a lesser extent Access on XP but would never go back to XP as my main machine because of this.



    BTW, I did an upgrade from XP to Vista on a Sony SZ330, following all of Sony's guidance. What a Nightmare! I had to revert to XP because not too many things worked at all or well. When you first started with Vista was it a clean install or an upgrade?
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  • Reply 10 of 12
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Quote:

    It's always been a little odd to me that someone who's pushing 10k posts on a mac board has never owned a mac, at least to my knowledge. This isn't a personal evaluation. It's just odd that someone who seems to like macs doesn't own one.



    I own a Powerbook G4 1.2ghz that I use daily. I have previously owned a PowerMac 5500/225 and an iMac G3/333. All throughout college I was the Mac guy in my department (a series of PowerMac G3s, G4s, and G5s as my workstations).



    Do my references check out?



    lfe:



    iTunes is the straw that broke the camel's back. uTorrent was acting funky as well, but not terrible. iTunes has become indispensable, so I had to part ways with Vista for now.
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  • Reply 11 of 12
    Didn't Apple make an official statement regarding iTunes and Vista? Something along the lines of iTunes is not fully Vista compatible.
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  • Reply 12 of 12
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by groverat View Post


    Do my references check out?



    I must have had you confused with someone else. Apologies, although I can't imagine who that might be.
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