iTunes 11 UI

[123456789A]

I would like to see Apple redo the Windows version of iTunes in Metro style. I doubt that'll ever happen though.

[PyX]

I simply can?t wait to put my hands on this. iTunes is one of the portions in OS X that needed a fresh wind of change.

I hate that Apple announces stuff that isn?t ready yet. Usually, they would launch everything right away along with the keynote. Now it?s untrue for just about anything they do.

Now?????.. where is iWork ?13, Apple ? It?s starting to become a running gag? that they can?t ever come up with a new suite?

[Luis Mazza]

I simply can?t wait to put my hands on this. iTunes is one of the portions in OS X that needed a fresh wind of change.

I hate that Apple announces stuff that isn?t ready yet. Usually, they would launch everything right away along with the keynote. Now it?s untrue for just about anything they do.

Now?????.. where is iWork ?13, Apple ? It?s starting to become a running gag? that they can?t ever come up with a new suite?

Steve would never have allowed this.

[SuperKid]

Its annoying how they announce it then it doesn't come out until later :\ Eventually the excitement of it coming out will ware off now we seen previews of it

[IntegralDerivative]

Its annoying how they announce it then it doesn't come out until later :\ Eventually the excitement of it coming out will ware off now we seen previews of it

Tell that to iPhone 2G

[Vice]

It would help if OS X was more limited, too, like the new Windows 8 experience, so that apps could not overlap and Windows could not be moved about.

Their development platform would have to become much better, too. Microsoft have innovated greatly with WinRT, especially the idea of app contracts, so that there is a consistent place for options such as Search, Share, Settings, and Devices.

So basically what you want is a Windows 1.0 user interface? - For those unaware that was the version of Windows that didn't have overlapping windows, your apps had to be side by side.

Really though Calum what you're suggesting is a terrible idea. I mean really just terrible. Making OS X more limited and making it so that Apps can't overlap would be the end of OS X as a serious operating system. Apple introduced full screen mode with Lion and not many people use it or discuss it. People don't want full screen applications it wastes so much space when they could have another app open but more importantly it hides stuff. You can't see apps bouncing in your dock and other indicators that something is going on, it just doesn't work.

Ya know I'm really disappointed in the way Microsoft has taken a phone interface and given it such a prominent position in Windows 8. If Apple did the same thing (and no Launchpad is nowhere near as intrusive as Metro is) it would be one of the worst computing mistakes in the history of OS X. iOS needs to stay on Tablets and Phones which is exactly where Metro should have stayed too. I know you don't agree with that when it comes to Metro but I think your opinion on that is just wrong, the same kind of wrong where people say Linux is a better desktop environment than Windows and OS X.

You're fortunate. Good heavens, if I could pick from a Windows app to use iTunes would be way down the list. When you build a feature into the app to look for said duplicates, you know somethings wrong.

I've been using iTunes since 2004, never had any song issues. The reason Apple included the remove duplicate feature is because people were ripping CD's and buying albums online. Sometimes you buy an artists Single then later get the Album and it has the same song on that album as was on the Single. Then there are compilations of many artists that will have the same songs on them that you may already have. The feature was not added because of any iTunes file duplication bugs but because of the music industry that keeps bundling the same songs on different records.

[SuperKid]

Tell that to iPhone 2G

A physical device coming out is completely different to software. Plus back then the iPhone 2G was revolutionary.

[DomZ]

I simply can?t wait to put my hands on this. iTunes is one of the portions in OS X that needed a fresh wind of change.

I hate that Apple announces stuff that isn?t ready yet. Usually, they would launch everything right away along with the keynote. Now it?s untrue for just about anything they do.

Now?????.. where is iWork ?13, Apple ? It?s starting to become a running gag? that they can?t ever come up with a new suite?

I think we'll have one more announcement from Apple by the end of the year to introduce the iPad mini, new iMac's and hopefully new iWork suite

[HawkMan]

A physical device coming out is completely different to software. Plus back then the iPhone 2G was revolutionary.

Revolutionary.... Hehehe

[remixedcat]

I would like to see Apple redo the Windows version of iTunes in Metro style. I doubt that'll ever happen though.

Apple will never touch metro style.... it would dillute thier identity.

[moloko]

Even more minimal. Well I will have to see. How does it look when you have your phone, ipod, ipad attached?

[The Guvnor]

Apple will never touch metro style.... it would dillute thier identity.

Well said my feline friend.

[greenwizard88]

Well, at least we know apple developers have no taste in music.

No, but their marketing department has great taste. Look at the albums there, there's literally something for everyone. Top 40 has artists like Fun. while Silversun Pickups is there for the alt crowd, and Blues Traveler is on the bottom for old school psudo country.

[Bubbabyte]

Do you mean apart from the "Automatically Add to iTunes" folder?

So i should just relocate my 500gb of music to the apple specific folder?

[metal_dragen Veteran]

No, but their marketing department has great taste. Look at the albums there, there's literally something for everyone. Top 40 has artists like Fun. while Silversun Pickups is there for the alt crowd, and Blues Traveler is on the bottom for old school psudo country.

Except not for me. I've heard of exactly 1 of the artists (Blues Traveler) shown in that screenshot. My musical tastes do not cross any of the genres represented here (and don't cross any of the top 100 either). I listen primarily to heavy metal and hard rock.

I wouldn't say that anyone has good or bad taste - I would say they know how to market to their primary audience (of which I am not).

Back on topic - first, I do hope that they've made some performance improvements (rewrite or not, like it or hate it, it's been getting slowly more bloated and resource hungry over time), and second, they needed a visual refresh, so that's good.

The problem I have is that the menu area now looks (in my opinion) worse than before. They need some more visual contrast. Also, the playback controls don't look click-able and they're too close to the window controls.

The sidebar, like it or not, was a quick way to get to the content you wanted. Now we have those options obscured behind a drop-down control that takes an extra click to get where you want to go.

I like the new store UI (more like the iPad experience), but in my opinion, that was not the store's problem. The store's problem has been (and appears still will be) discovery.

I honestly think they should split the player and the store experiences into separate apps.

[MurkWorks]

So i should just relocate my 500gb of music to the apple specific folder?

The way it operates is that you can drop any supported file types in the folder. It will then automatically add the files to your library. It will also move them and organize them depending on metadata into your current library wherever you have chosen that location to be (mine gets moved to a secondary hard drive). You can look at the Help section to get the full explanation of how it works.

[.Neo]

It would help if OS X was more limited, too, like the new Windows 8 experience, so that apps could not overlap and Windows could not be moved about.

You don't :p But that's one of the beauties of Windows 8. It's one of the features that leads to the user experience being much better than their previous operating systems, and I would love to see something similar from OS X :)

I have no idea why I would want to limit the ability to use my my 2560 x 1440 workspace to only two windows at about 80% and 20% of the screen, like in Windows 8. Since Expos?/Mission Control was put in place I also don't have any issues whatsoever with overlapping windows. Like I explained many times before the vast majority of windows simply don't hold enough content to justify them being full-screen or even at 50%. It's that exact reason why I don't see people using the feature short from games, reading large PDF files and watching videos. It's just not practical.

Sometimes I have to do administrative work where I input data from Word to Excel. How exactly would that work with in Metro? Switch back and forth screens after every new line? Even with multi-touch gestures, which are already in place in OS X to switch between full-screen apps/desktops, it would be a pain. Try to squeeze the Word document in a 20% workspace and wasting the rest away on a half empty Excel sheet? Thanks but no thanks.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I really hope that the interface is updated for Windows. Currently iTunes has a custom UI that incorporates the Vista/7 style theme for the Min/Max/Close buttons, which looks really out of place in Windows 8. I really wish that iTunes used a native skin rather than the Mac-metal crap. They also need to get rid of the old-school "File, Edit, View" style menus. Unfortunately I'm concerned that's asking too much, as Apple has absolutely no interest in developing its applications to make full use of the Windows platform and established UI principles.

I'm disappointed that there hasn't been another media player to truly rival iTunes. That may changes with Windows 8 but I'm not holding my breath for it.

[HawkMan]

The way it operates is that you can drop any supported file types in the folder. It will then automatically add the files to your library. It will also move them and organize them depending on metadata into your current library wherever you have chosen that location to be (mine gets moved to a secondary hard drive). You can look at the Help section to get the full explanation of how it works.

I don't want itunes to move, relocate organize or any such thing with any of my much better organized music. it just needs to use windows' api's to monitor my library folders for changes and add any new files to the library where they are.

[.Neo]

[?] as Apple has absolutely no interest in developing its applications to make full use of the Windows platform and established UI principles.

Nor has Microsoft when it involves OS X. Just look at it this way: Apple is simply returning the same favor to Windows. Let's also not pretend Microsoft themselves care deeply about overall consistency on their own platform. Do Windows 8 and Office 2013 match interfaces? No. Could Microsoft be bothered to implement Metro-styled icons system-wide to match the new desktop theme? No. Maybe if the company started setting the right example third-parties will follow.

[AJerman]

So i should just relocate my 500gb of music to the apple specific folder?

Honestly, you wouldn't want it. If you had 500 GB of music, and you wanted iTunes to do folder monitoring and constantly scan it all, you'd use a massive amount of processing power. This is why I don't add my music folder to live monitoring in my media centers. The way I used iTunes, when I used iTunes, was to set the folder that I use for music in the settings, then whenever I had new music to add, I'd just either drop it in the Automatically add folder, or manually do a file, import folder to library, and it would copy over the files to my normal music folders. No need to constantly monitor when I'm rarely going to add a new file. Unless you have a unique set of circumstances, folder monitoring is pretty inefficient.

[HawkMan]

Honestly, you wouldn't want it. If you had 500 GB of music, and you wanted iTunes to do folder monitoring and constantly scan it all, you'd use a massive amount of processing power. This is why I don't add my music folder to live monitoring in my media centers. The way I used iTunes, when I used iTunes, was to set the folder that I use for music in the settings, then whenever I had new music to add, I'd just either drop it in the Automatically add folder, or manually do a file, import folder to library, and it would copy over the files to my normal music folders. No need to constantly monitor when I'm rarely going to add a new file. Unless you have a unique set of circumstances, folder monitoring is pretty inefficient.

umm, no you wouldn't that's why the filesystem has API's that allows it to give notices about changes.

most other library based players monitors folders for changes. test windows own libraries or Foobar. scan the library, first scan takes some time. add a file to the music folder of your choice that is being monitored, and voile after few seconds to minutes it's in your library and no excessive cpu usage.

what however DOES take a lot of extra power is the itunes way where you have to rescan the full library every time, even if the secondary scans are faster.

[AJerman]

umm, no you wouldn't that's why the filesystem has API's that allows it to give notices about changes.

most other library based players monitors folders for changes. test windows own libraries or Foobar. scan the library, first scan takes some time. add a file to the music folder of your choice that is being monitored, and voile after few seconds to minutes it's in your library and no excessive cpu usage.

what however DOES take a lot of extra power is the itunes way where you have to rescan the full library every time, even if the secondary scans are faster.

I'm just speaking from experience. Having a quite sizable music library has caused numerous issues with live filesystem monitor in media centers and music players, aside from even the initial index. This isn't a feature I'd want when you could have a watch folder that will automatically copy, sort, and add to the library for me. Unless you've got some kind of special circumstances, your music collection probably stays fairly static and normally just grows. Not much need for live monitoring. I don't think the file system APIs you're talking about are nearly as efficient as you think they are.

[HawkMan]

what media center apps and music players would this be. because properly implemented libraries and folder monitors will NOT affect performance, as the file system itself will report or tag when changes has happened. they won't scan the whole folder constantly for changes. That's not how it works. then it's not folder monitoring, then it's actively scanning.

As for media centers, I know that MediaPortal, and plex at least properly monitors, I believe XBMC does as well, but it works so properly and has such poor detection and strict requirements for file naming and placement that it doesn't work anyway

for media players, well any player that uses the windows library works just fine as that properly monitors folders, that includes WMP and Spotify at least. Foobar's folder monitoring properly monitors.

So I'd be interested in knowing what apps you've tried that borks folder monitoring so badly and uses their own manual scanning routines instead of properly monitoring for changes.

[AJerman]

what media center apps and music players would this be. because properly implemented libraries and folder monitors will NOT affect performance, as the file system itself will report or tag when changes has happened. they won't scan the whole folder constantly for changes. That's not how it works. then it's not folder monitoring, then it's actively scanning.

As for media centers, I know that MediaPortal, and plex at least properly monitors, I believe XBMC does as well, but it works so properly and has such poor detection and strict requirements for file naming and placement that it doesn't work anyway

for media players, well any player that uses the windows library works just fine as that properly monitors folders, that includes WMP and Spotify at least. Foobar's folder monitoring properly monitors.

So I'd be interested in knowing what apps you've tried that borks folder monitoring so badly and uses their own manual scanning routines instead of properly monitoring for changes.

Boxee always gave me the most trouble of them all. I had to stop using it entirely due to it's library monitoring. Plex was better I think, but I stopped actively monitor the music folder, so I can't compare it as well. I understand how this part of a file system API works to an extent, but I've never actually done anything with it in code, but depending on the OS and the file system API used, some monitor files, some monitor folders, some require thousands and thousands of subscriptions to all the different folders you want to monitor.

Perhaps this is something where the work being done takes no time at all on modern hardware (perhaps my hardware wouldn't have been considered modern enough, haha), but some process in the file system is checking every file system change with a list of filters/subscriptions by apps that want to be notified. When you add thousands of folders to that filter or subscription list, I question the ability to not have any impact on performance. Monitor 5 folders, sure, no difference in performance at all, monitor 5000 folders and there's still no performance hit?

Ehh, I dunno. I just know I've dealt with live monitoring issues in the past, and perhaps they were problems in the code, but like I said, I just don't see it being that useful except for some people in special situations. Just have an import scanner watching one folder rather than wasting time watching them all.