First Look: iTunes Is All New. Here’s Why You Need It

There are times when I get all gee whiz and giggle over something new. iTunes 9 is new. Newer than new. It looks and feels like iTunes but as you look around, explore, click here and there, you find it’s more than the sum of the parts.

iTunes 9 is faster, and is organized different. Not necessarily better, because that requires some time to become acclimated. It is easier to find what you’re looking for. But think of how much there is to find in iTunes.

Genius Mixes

If you’re not into iTunes Store but use iTunes to manage music on your Mac or PC, or sync it all up to your iPod, iTunes 9 brings more than a few new features.

I’m not much into mixing and matching music ala the new Genius Mixes (not to be confused with the cute guys at the Genius Bar in the Apple Stores). Think of this as the computer mixing your music just for you, based on your tastes in music.

Genius Mixes is more. It’ll do movies, too. The idea behind the Genius is to expose you to more music that somehow or another appears to a computer to match what you appear to like based upon what you have and what you play.

Good luck with that.

Home Sharing

We’ve always been able to share our music. “Gimme that CD,” my friend. Legally, Apple made it easy to connect your Mac to another household member’s Mac so you could listen to what’s on their Mac without having to copy it all to your Mac (though it’s likely many did anyway).

Home Sharing means you can check out the iTunes libraries on up to five other authorized Macs or PCs in your household and even import those songs, movies or TV shows to your Mac.

It’s like a singular close encounter with a bittorrent in the room next to yours.

Sync Me, Baby, One More Time

Besides iTunes music management, if there’s a singular hallmark of iTunes and iPod (or iPhone or iPod touch) it’s the ability to sync without having to think.

That simple sync process is still there but improved, and with more options for iPod touch and iPhone users. Instead of dragging apps from page to page on your iPhone, manage the whole shebang inside iTunes.

That’s sweet, and long overdue.

Cosmetology

iTunes has a few cosmetic changes here and there. The left column of Playlists and Library looks the same. Home Sharing is new. Smart Lists are improved with more options.

iTunes scroll bars are leftover from the previous version but still different than scroll bars in most Mac apps and the Finder. The top window status bar is thinner. I don’t know why that’s better. It’s more difficult to see.

The Library viewing options are the same; Cover Flow or list or icon for Music, Movies, TV Shows, and Podcasts. iTunes DJ is in the Playlist column.

If iTunes for your media isn’t changed all that much, and it’s not, then what has changed? Inside, iTunes’ architecture has changed, including adaptation of Apple’s Webkit technology (the rendering engine used in Safari). But the big changes are in the iTunes Store. Carry on to Page 2...