The Biz

As a Mac fanatic, I wanted to highlight today's release of iTunes 7.

A few weeks back, the news was out that Apple had scheduled a "Special Announcement" for September 12th. Seeing as they had recently launched a new line of iMac computers with duo-core processors, the rumor-mill let it be known that we should be expecting some updates to the infamous iPods.

Today, I logged into various Apple related website to discover that iTunes has been updated. iTunes 7 is now available as a free download for both Mac and PC.

Apple iTunes 7

Probably the most significant feature was the addition of movies, feature films and games that are now available for purchase in the iTunes Store.

With a few free moments this evening, I downloaded the update for iTunes. The download was quick, however Apple took the opportunity to update Quicktime too. In case you didn't notice, you can't download iTunes separately from Quicktime anymore. Nonetheless, the system rebooted and iTunes kicked into gear.

At first glance, the interface is familiar, yet proves to be noticeably easier. The organization of the menu of the left-hand side is more logical, breaking up the "Library" into Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Audiobooks and Radio.

Below the the Library, you'll find the Store. Those familiar with the previous version will recall that Apple branded the store as the "iTunes Music Store". Well, it's dropped the "Music" and is now simply "iTunes Store". And, rightly so. iTunes has exceeded nearly everyone's expectations and is the organizing application for multimedia for newbies and hipsters alike. The iTunes Store sells much more than just music. It just makes sense to refine the name.

I also liked how my purchased music was all organized together, and could easily be found below the link to the iTunes Store.

One of the nicest features was the Downloads screen that lets me see which podcasts are updating. After the download completes, the podcasts area adds to the number of to-be-listened-to shows. From the screenshot, it looks like I've got some catching up to do, listening to 454 podcast episodes to be exact.

Apple managed to add some value by offering to Get Album Artwork for those CDs I ripped from my own collection and match them against the iTunes database. This was a nice touch in helping all iTunes users round out their music collection.

My only beef is that being a resident of Canada, I'm unable to access all of the great new content, such as TV Shows and Movies. Not to worry. I believe Apple will remedy the fact that most of the video content is currently unavailable, sooner rather than later.

Overall, I'd give the update a 9/10. Apple continues to innovate, refine and expand one of most useful applications for creative professionals. Nicely done, Apple.

Best,

David

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