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Apple’s wish list for its revamped iTunes product is long, but near the top was an October release date. After it was an iPad mini event truant, iTunes seemed destined not to make the cut. Now, Apple tells AllThingsD, it’s going to be another month:
“The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right. We look forward to releasing this new version of iTunes with its dramatically simpler and cleaner interface, and seamless integration with iCloud before the end of November.”
Delays are natural in software development, expected even, and if anything there’s hope that this hold-up means that iTunes really is getting the much-needed overhaul it deserves. Or maybe it’s just that the team has been a little distracted, what with Apple’s top execs playing musical chairs last night (Scott Forstall, by the way, lost).
Among the expected changes to the bloated, creaking music player are a cleaner layout, better playlist options, a redesigned mini-player, and more robust viewing options. Not expected: the vengeful return of Ping, much of a reason to go back to iTunes if you’ve already bailed. [AllThingsD]
5 Features iTunes 11 Still Needs
iTunes 11 Arrives With a New Look and New Features
What's New in iTunes 11, and Does it Still Suck?
Wow, acerbic! Do people hate iTunes that much? I’ve never had an issue with it. I’m fairly ambivalent about the overhall too. Also, if maps is anything to go by, the thing must be royally fucked if they’re holding it back a month.
Do you run Mac or Windows?
Mac. Never tried it on Windows.
That would be why. iTunes on Mac is simply just old, it’s not inefficient. On Windows 7 (haven’t installed it on
it alone added 1.5 minutes to my boot time. Then it would take 2 minutes to open on top. I’ve used it on my super-old Macbook 1st gen, and it runs fine. My 6 month old i5 laptop runs it horribly, it’s coded like balls on Windows.
No one objects to it on Mac, the problem is that a significant proportion of iOS and iPod users are on Windows, and they have to fight the crapfest that is iTunes on Windows.
Ahhh, fair enough. That does explain the hate for it. I’ve tried rythmnbox on Ubuntu and, of course, Spotify, but that’s the breadth of my moozakplaya experience.
Same story with Spotify, incidentally. Spotify on Mac is amazing, on Windows it uses a custom taskbar, so it doesn’t conform to Windows Snap, and chews up rendering time for it. Not quite as bad as iTunes, but the Mac and Android clients are amazing for Spotify.
Maybe they’ve learned their lesson from Maps (and Siri)?
I’ve never had a problem on my Mac but have it on windows at work and it’s not good. So my guess is that the people that dislike it are mostly Windows users.
Definitely.
Knowing Apples attention to detail and user experience they are probably trying to make this version as slow and resource hoggy as the previous versions so that users feel right at home with it. Programming that bad takes time you know.
I was looking forward to iTunes 11 bit pissed off its been delayed, then I thought hay maybe they’ve learned their lesson and it’ll actually work when its released, then I remembered this is Apple we’re talking about and after 3 years of Apple ignoring complaints on the Apple support communities, they still haven’t got wifi working consistently on any of their devices. So Ive stopped holding my breath and I wont be holding it again for anything Apple related !
Never, ever had any issue with the usability of iTunes on OS X.
Feature wise, there’s some stuff missing that would be nice to have – but resource heavy/buggy? No sign of it. Not in the last 7 years of being a Mac user anyway.
Looking forward to the update to see what’s new though.
iTunes on OS X and iTunes on Windows are entirely different beasts, the former is quite good though a bit long in the tooth now, the latter though can be a she-bitch-from-hell at times.
Cant say Ive noticed a difference, but regardless of performance iTunes is a mess compared to other Apple software especially the iTunes store, stuffs just flung everywhere
It’s just a sign of how long it’s been and how many tasks it;s been given on top of organising music. It’s good to have everything in one place but it seems it’s time for a big shake up in terms of managing content on the phone from your Mac. Perhaps something akin to a ‘hub’ that can access all iTunes, iPhoto/aperture, the appstore and anything else needed to put content on there. much in the way that itunes currently accesses iPhoto.
Just a thought.
Personally I liked the iOS 5 approach of separating music video and apps, but I think Apple only did that because of limited screen real estate on the iPhone and didn’t really consider all the other benefits which came with it such as cleaner organisation of content. But Now they’ve thrown that positive step out of the window with iOS 6, the app stores a complete mess worse still its a mess on a small screen. Liking the look of the new iTunes although I fear it wont be all I’d hoped for, but would like Apple to resolve all outstanding wifi issues for mac, iPhone and iPad ONCE AND FOR ALL before I start singing their praises again. its been going on for 4 years FFS ! sorry slight diversionary rant
I agree, the App store does seem to be a complete step backward. I’m not sure what the logic behind it was.
I guess part of the trouble with iTunes now is that any change is going to completely throw a lot of people that won’t necessarily adapt well/quickly to change. Part of the problem with being successful I suppose.
I think good clear, simple, intuitive design can circumvent any issues people may have, its only when a change isn’t immediately obvious that people get annoyed, like some of the odd choices Facebook has made over the years.
I personally think that they should split it into separate apps one for music one for video one for apps ect and have like you said a hub app which allows syncing between all the apps and your devices, its simple and logical and each app would be clearer and more focused.
iTunes is pure unadulterated clunking crapola.
So what to use instead of Windows iTunes if you’re a iPhone & iPad user?
You don’t. There isn’t really an alternative.
Though you don’t actually need to use iTunes anymore at all with the iPhone and iPad. They’re capable of being computer free if you want (to an extent – copying media will still require iTunes unless you use iTunes Match or buy stuff from the Apple stores)
Will this one work because I’m getting f***ed off to high heaven with 10.