iTunes is a digital media player application, introduced by Apple Computer for playing and organizing digital music and video files. iTunes is also an interface to obtain, manage and organizing the content on Apple’s popular iPod digital media players, and can connect to the iTunes Store (formerly known as the iTunes Music Store, or iTMS) to download purchased digital music, songs, music videos, television shows, iPod games and feature length films. iTunes 7, the latest version of iTunes is available as free download program, and supports Mac OS X and Windows 2000, XP, 2003 or Vista. iTunes in fact is bundled with all Mac computers which uses Mac OS X and some iPods, and also offered as part of Apple’s iLife suite of multimedia applications.
iTunes 7 features support for Movies downloaded from iTunes Store at higher video resolutions of 640×480, selectable User Interfaces and track listings, improved ratings and parental controls, multiple libraries and library backup commands, gapless playback, transfer of purchased content from iPod to computer, iPod Games, improved search capability and new data fields of “Album Artist”, “Skip Count”, and “Last Skipped”. The minor update to 7.0.1 features stability and performance improvements with Cover Flow, CD importing, iPod syncing, and more, resolved some compatibility issues with the Remote Desktop Protocol, and resolved compatibility with Windows Live Messenger and Computer Calls on PC’s.
Playlist (dead link) reviews iTunes 7 and concludes with rating of 3.5 out of 5 that “is iTunes 7 truly the most significant enhancement to iTunes since Apple first introduced the program? A more organized interface, new Album and CoverFlow views, gapless playback, and tighter iPod integration hint that it is. But its premiere release isn’t without problems. Stability issues and inconsistent results in Album and CoverFlow views can make working with the latest version of iTunes frustrating. Thankfully, any reservations I have about the program may be erased with a single update. When that update comes, iTunes will earn its rightful place as both the program’s most significant and enjoyable enhancement.”
CNet concludes with very good rating of 7.8 out of 10 that Apple iTunes 7 shines with a refined but still-intuitive interface, fabulous and useful Cover Flow album view adds dimension to music, iTunes Store now features movies and games, movie pricing is consistent and competitive, supports gapless audio playback, can find missing album art, has new features such as Download Manager. However, iTunes 7, along with Cover Flow, is more processor-intensive than version 6, underdeveloped Radio section, no built-in recording features, movies have a resolution of only 640×480, most major studio films not available, can’t burn to watchable DVD, some bugs reported by users, album art retrieval feature needs work. Overall, Apple iTunes 7 is a required upgrade for movie buyers and new iPod owners. Its refined interface, particularly Cover Flow, and useful new features trump the fact that the application is processor intensive.
The Mac Observer reviews iTunes 7.0.1 and concludes with solid rating of 3 out of 5 that “iTunes 7 adds some great new features to an already powerful media manager. Even at version 7.0.1, however, it still has a few rough edges. Even so, I think iTunes 7 is a worthwhile upgrade, and I’m glad I installed it on my Mac. But I’m still really looking forward to iTunes 7.0.2.”
LK is a technology writer for Tech Journey with background of system and network administrator. He has be documenting his experiences in digital and technology world for over 15 years.Connect with LK through Tech Journey on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
