Downloads

iTunes

Version: 8.0

Downloads Count: 107,974

License Type: Free

Price: Free

Date Added: Sep 11, 2008

Operating Systems: Macintosh, Windows XP, Windows Vista

Requirements: 1GHz processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX 9.0-compatible video card with 32MB of video RAM, QuickTime-compatible audio card, XP SP2 or 32-bit Vista

File Size: 66234 KB

Author: Apple

Recommend
this download?

Vote Yes
Vote No
0 Yes
0 No

Avg. User Rating 0

Editorial Review of iTunes

iTunes 8 gives you a fresh way to browse your music, improved accessibility for the vision-impaired, and a new automatic playlist-generation feature dubbed Genius. Judging from my test-drive, the new features are useful, but none are particularly groundbreaking, must-have additions.

ITunes 8's new marquee feature is Genius, which automatically suggests songs based on your selection of a baseline. Genius has two parts, the Genius sidebar and the Genius Playlist tool. If you're a longtime iTunes user, you may notice similarities between Genius and the iTunes Mini Store and Just For You features from iTunes 7 and earlier. You need to turn on Genius before using it; iTunes collects information on your iTunes library, submits it to Apple, and then starts feeding you Genius sidebar results. When you activate Genius, iTunes compares your songs, playlists, and iTunes purchase history against iTunes's offerings and library information from other users to give you the most relevant recommendations.

You may be concerned about sharing your personal library information. Apple says that it collects information "such as track names, play counts, and ratings," but notes that your iTunes library data "will be stored with an anonymous Genius ID and not linked to your iTunes account."

To use the Genius sidebar, select a song. iTunes will give you Genius sidebar results tailored to your selection. The Genius sidebar consists of four parts: the top albums from the selected song's artist, the top songs you don't yet have in your library from that artist, relevant iTunes Essentials collections, and other recommendations based on your selection. This last feature is a welcome feature to me, since I already enjoy using iTunes to find music from artists I'm not familiar with; the Genius sidebar makes that easier for me to do.

The other half of Genius is the Genius playlists function. To create one, select a song and click the Genius atom icon in the lower-right corner of the iTunes window. iTunes then generates a playlist containing songs in your library similar to the song you selected. By default iTunes limits these playlists to 25 songs, though you can create Genius playlists up to 100 songs. I found that Genius generates some pretty accurate playlists. And as Apple notes, Genius should become more accurate as additional playlist information becomes available, though as my colleague Tim Moynihan discovered, it is possible to confuse the iTunes Genius.

Another big enhancement is Grid view, which displays your collection's album covers in a visual grid. Within Grid view, you can sort your music by album, artist, genre, or composer. As you mouse over an album's cover-art tile, a Play button appears. Skim over tiles when sorting by Artist, Genre, or Composer, and the tile will quickly flash the album art for items sorted under each category.

In my experience, this arrangement made it easier to locate music quickly--if you want to listen to a certain album, you can use the tile-based view to find it visually, instead of doing a search for it. But this feature won't drastically change the way you organize and find your music. ITunes continues to let you browse your music by List view, in which you can see details about your music and videos, and by Cover Flow view, in which you can flip through album covers as if you were using a jukebox.

In its eighth iteration, ITunes remains solid, although it still has both its benefits and its quirks as a media organizer, player, and jukebox. Genius is a useful--and generally well-done--addition, and Grid view may make finding music easier. Aside from that, though, nothing about iTunes 8 is really groundbreaking.

Note: This link takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software. This version works on 32-bit XP and Vista systems only.

--Nick Mediati

Not a member? Register Now.

Add Your Review

Most recent User Reviews for iTunes

Be the first to review iTunes »

People who downloaded this also downloaded:

You are browsing Design & Multimedia

Narrow your results

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ... » Next To re-sort this list, click a column heading.

PRODUCT NAME

30 Day Change ALL-TIME

DATE ADDED

LICENSE
Photo! Editor

56,963

Oct 28, 2008

Filed Under: Image Editors
Powerful and easy-to-use image editing tools for free

User Ratings Read Reviews
AVG
iTunes Folder Watch

21,913

Jul 10, 2009

Free

Filed Under: MP3
Automatically populate your iTunes library with this freebie.

User Ratings Read Reviews
AVG
Pictomio

6,244

Feb 10, 2009

Free

Filed Under: Tools
Simply the slickest media viewer, librarian, and slideshow creator in the PC universe.

User Ratings Read Reviews
AVG
Free YouTube to MP3 Converter

12,532

May 8, 2008

Filed Under: Audio
Download music from YouTube movies and save it as MP3, convert flv to mp3.

Be the first to review
Free YouTube to MP3 Converter
VideoThang

10,850

Jul 3, 2008

Free

Filed Under: Video Tools
This free, friendly utility makes video editing as painless as it can be, but the workflow's a bit restrictive.

User Ratings Read Reviews
AVG
PhotoArtist

5,271

Feb 10, 2009

Trial

Filed Under: Tools
Give your photos artistic flair with this special-effects software.

User Ratings Read Reviews
AVG
SiteShoter

2,170

Jun 29, 2008

Free

Filed Under: Internet Tools
Save a screenshot of any Web page into a file.

User Ratings Read Reviews
AVG
BenVista PhotoMagic

4,241

Nov 12, 2007

Shareware

Filed Under: Tools
This suite lets you resize images, make basic repairs, add special effects, and print multiple photos.

Be the first to review
BenVista PhotoMagic
Professor Franklin's Instant Photo Artist

2,041

Jul 1, 2009

Trial

Filed Under: Image Editors
Take an ordinary photo and turn it into exciting work of art within minutes.

Be the first to review
Professor Franklin's Instant Photo Artist
Fast Image Resizer

4,969

Jun 18, 2007

Filed Under: Tools
Resize your jpeg files quickly and in high quality

User Ratings Read Reviews
AVG

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ... » Next

Featured APC Accessories For Your System
10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store

APC Back-UPS ES Safeguards your equipment from damaging surges and spikes that travel along your utility & data lines.
APC SurgeArrest Performance Highest level of protection for your professional computers, electronics and connected devices, as well as provides surge protection.

Editors' Favorite Files

See more File Collections »

PC World Related Content

Open-Source Media Player VLC Hits the Big Time

Longtime favorite free and self-contained media player VLC finally makes it to version 1.0.0--and brings a host of new features.

Topaz Adjust: A Gem for Photo Improvement

This plug-in provides slider controls over exposure, detail, color, and noise for creating dynamic images.

Downloads FAQ

If you have questions about finding, downloading, or opening files in our library, you'll probably find the answers here.

Visit the Downloads FAQ »

Special Offer

Easy Media Creator 10 Suite

The new Roxio Easy Media Creator 10 gives you creative inspiration and all the tools you need to enhance your digital lifestyle. Create, share and enjoy your movies, memories and music as only you can."/>

More Information

PC World Community

Most Recent Threads

media playerStarted on Thu Jul 09 03:49:49 PDT 2009"
Help with free music download sitesStarted on Wed Jul 08 02:12:30 PDT 2009"
DVD -R or DVD +R, Which do I use to burn a DVD?Started on Tue Jun 30 14:23:40 PDT 2009"
Any good Free (No Trials Please) video editing...Started on Tue Jun 30 00:01:22 PDT 2009"
Converter for M4P to MP#Started on Mon Jun 29 23:23:34 PDT 2009"

		Superior
		Very Good
		Good
		Fair
		Poor

Downloads

iTunes

Editorial Review of iTunes

Add Your Review

Submit your Review

Most recent User Reviews for iTunes

Be the first to review iTunes »

People who downloaded this also downloaded:

Sponsored Links

You are browsing Design & Multimedia

Featured APC Accessories For Your System
10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store

Email Address	Password	Forgot your password?

Downloads

Downloads »

Design & Multimedia

iTunes

Editorial Review of iTunes

Add Your Review

Submit your Review

Most recent User Reviews for iTunes

Be the first to review iTunes »

People who downloaded this also downloaded:

Sponsored Links

You are browsing Design & Multimedia

Featured APC Accessories For Your System 10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store

Featured APC Accessories For Your System
10% Off Entire Cart at Online Store