ITunes for Windows Proves Popular

Last week Apple Computer introduced its long-awaited ITunes for Microsoft Windows software.

The software provides Windows PC users with the ability to buy music from the ITunes Music Store, and it sports the same features and capabilities as its long-running Macintosh counterpart.

On Monday Apple announced that more than a million copies of the ITunes for Windows software had been downloaded in the first three days following the software's release. The company also said that more than a million songs were purchased in the same period.

By comparison, when the ITunes Music Store first launched in late April exclusively for Mac users, it took Apple about a week to hit the million songs sold mark.

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Last week's announcement marked not only the release of ITunes for Windows, but also the introduction of the second generation of ITunes Music Store, with new features like "allowances" for children of adult ITunes Music Store users, celebrity playlists, gift certificates, more exclusive tracks, audiobooks, and more.

The ITunes Music Store provides Mac and Windows users with access to music from artists signed to the five major music companies in the United States, along with music from more than 200 independent labels.

Each track costs $0.99 and many complete albums cost $9.99. The service launched with about 200,000 songs, and Apple announced last week that it will have more than 400,000 songs by the end of the month.