I'm referring to the interface, both athletically and functionally--compared with earlier versions with iTunes, not general gripes about all versions of iTunes.
I'm running iTunes on XP (I have heard that iTunes 7 is good in OSX), and for functionality it is a large step backwards from iTunes 6. It's buggy, it does strange things to the ordering of your library, you can no longer keep your shuffle in the source list when it's not plugged in, and those are just the issues that I faced in the one week that I ran the program before "down-grading" back to iTunes 6. Microsoft could not have released a worse program!
I'm completely neutral on the look of the program (and the new browsing features -- coverflow). I much prefer the hierarchical browsing, but as that is still present in iTunes 7, that there are other views doesn't mean a thing to me. The new colouring scheme is uninspiring, but so was the blue glass look. If Apple really wants a winner, they should go for black: black is sharp!
The UI of v7 is sluggish at best on my Mac Pro (2.66 GHz 8 Gb 4x Raptor 150 in RAID-0 and X1900 with about 30,000 songs), which is an amazing feat from Apple considering the sheer power of that machine.
Aside from getting the 3 GHz model, waiting for an octo version and putting an even more insane amount of RAM; I don't know how to make a faster Mac.
Windows Media Player 11 on the same machine through XP is *WAY* faster and more responsive.
My major problem with it is how they moved many useful buttons to the menus (visualizer, EQ, fullscreen button.) The fugly scroll bars, and the sluggishness.
iTunes is ugly. I can't stand the way it's so horrible to look at. It's too bland for me. However, it's wonderful software to use, and I use it for all of my song playing needs. For videos, I use WMP 11. Can you even import videos into iTunes?
My only gripe is with selecting chapters when listening to enhanced podcasts. It's not as visible as it was before. Apple should do something to change that.
For me, it's still functional at managing 1300 songs, 7000 photos, and 200 videos, but it is definitely showing its age. 7.0 is definitely not as responsive as 6.x and video (both UI and features) seems unfinished still.
I agree; I'd like to be able to store audio and video on separate hard drives.
Maybe I'm missing something but I do that now. Just turn off 'copy to Itunes folder' in preferences. I have all my videos on an external drive (actually 2) and music on the internal on an iMac G5.
Maybe I'm missing something but I do that now. Just turn off 'copy to Itunes folder' in preferences. I have all my videos on an external drive (actually 2) and music on the internal on an iMac G5.
But I want itunes to manage my music and my videos, and copy them in, because I'm lazy, I just want them to do it in different places.
I am still using iTunes 6.0.4 because it works well for me. No sense in messing with what works.
I upgraded only because of a 2nd gen Shuffle purchase, and ditto - no mission-critical complaints but preferred 6's look.
However, I would like to hide the headings (LIBRARY, STORE, DEVICES, etc.) to have more room in the bar. One, I hate all caps, and two, I already know what's what (and they're icon-specific if I didn't.)
Also it would be great to be able to add user-defined fields in the track tags, even if not supported/updated by online databases. I wouldn't do it for every track, but "Produced By," "Recording Location" and/or Date, and "Type" (Studio, Live, Acoustic, Demo, Cover, etc.) information can be nice to have at my fingertips and to sort by.
My only gripe with 7 is that the Playlist folder hierarchy is not transferred to my iPod. What's the point of organizing content if you can't use it when it's needed most?
Comments
I'm completely neutral on the look of the program (and the new browsing features -- coverflow). I much prefer the hierarchical browsing, but as that is still present in iTunes 7, that there are other views doesn't mean a thing to me. The new colouring scheme is uninspiring, but so was the blue glass look. If Apple really wants a winner, they should go for black: black is sharp!
Aside from getting the 3 GHz model, waiting for an octo version and putting an even more insane amount of RAM; I don't know how to make a faster Mac.
Windows Media Player 11 on the same machine through XP is *WAY* faster and more responsive.
But if I could fix or change a few things they would be;
1. I'd remove the non-working view buttons from the Podcast library in iTunes.
2. I'd make the blue/gray bar at the bottom of the Podcast section of iTunes thinner.
3. I'd fix the bloddy bug where It seems impossible to pause anything in fullscreen, without quitting the shitten video.
The icon, though, was better in the previous version.
Can you even import videos into iTunes?
yip
drag n drop
try it
yip
drag n drop
try it
Oh, nice, definitely going to be doing that, then.
I just hate the way it handles video. It should keep the videos and music in different libraries.
I agree; I'd like to be able to store audio and video on separate hard drives.
I agree; I'd like to be able to store audio and video on separate hard drives.
Maybe I'm missing something but I do that now. Just turn off 'copy to Itunes folder' in preferences. I have all my videos on an external drive (actually 2) and music on the internal on an iMac G5.
Maybe I'm missing something but I do that now. Just turn off 'copy to Itunes folder' in preferences. I have all my videos on an external drive (actually 2) and music on the internal on an iMac G5.
But I want itunes to manage my music and my videos, and copy them in, because I'm lazy, I just want them to do it in different places.
I am still using iTunes 6.0.4 because it works well for me. No sense in messing with what works.
I upgraded only because of a 2nd gen Shuffle purchase, and ditto - no mission-critical complaints but preferred 6's look.
However, I would like to hide the headings (LIBRARY, STORE, DEVICES, etc.) to have more room in the bar. One, I hate all caps, and two, I already know what's what (and they're icon-specific if I didn't.)
Also it would be great to be able to add user-defined fields in the track tags, even if not supported/updated by online databases. I wouldn't do it for every track, but "Produced By," "Recording Location" and/or Date, and "Type" (Studio, Live, Acoustic, Demo, Cover, etc.) information can be nice to have at my fingertips and to sort by.