With the release of version 4.1, Windows users finally get a look at Apple's iTunes software on home ground. From the brushed aluminium and ice blue of the Mac OS branding, to the organisation of the interface, it feels almost alien in a Windows environment.
For simplicity, iTunes opts for a single column to deal with the entire music library, Internet radio presets and playlists, as well as a shared group, which automatically detects other iTunes libraries across a network. You also get direct access to Apple's Music Store, which in a shrewd marketing move is only accessible through the iTunes interface. You can currently only purchase music online with a US billing address, but plans are afoot to make this service available world wide. The service offers songs for US$0.99 each, as well as audiobooks and entire albums.
It's in the details that iTunes endears itself, though, such as the tickbox against each track that conceals it from the library, the easily created auto playlists and the uncluttered browser. Finding specific tracks is certainly quicker than in Microsoft's offering, with the three nested columns making light work of narrowing down by genre, artist or album.
The software itself includes all the basics to rip, encode, organise and play your music collection. It also provides features such as a ten-band EQ, aural enhancer and level correction, as well as being able to burn large playlists across multiple CDs or DVDs. It's all good stuff, but compared to the sophistication of Windows Media Player it still feels basic. Unlike Microsoft's offering, file movements or additions to the music library itself need manual intervention, and there's also no way of customising the interface to be less intrusive. Being able to minimise to a toolbar or, by using skins, reduce its size would make iTunes a far more practical piece of software.
Anyone with large libraries in Microsoft's proprietary WMA format will be disappointed too, as, like with the iPod, there's no support for it. Apple's own MPEG-4-based codec AAC is the flavour of the day and generally provides excellent results, with comparatively smaller files sizes than MP3, which is also supported.
It seems picky to lament the lack of features in a free product, and iTunes does offer an appealing simplicity. If you're an iPod user, the increased integration will make it an attractive option, but Windows Media Player will still outperform in most areas.