An update of Apple Computer's iTunes for Windows has just been released. It's meant to eliminate bugs experienced by some users.

V4.1.1 fixes a problem that caused some W2k systems to lock up.

The initial relerase also recategorized music into new folders.

"iTunes 4.1.1 addresses an isolated incompatibility with Windows 2000 and older third-party CD-burning software, as well as problems caused by corrupt MP3 files on some users' PCs," says a company statement.

Wont use this so I have nothing to worry about.

ummm, i still hear its locking up computers....never had that problem with grokster or napster..... guess you have to pay to have someone screw up your computer now

There has been a lot of iTunes news lately and we haven't really discussed it since the Windoze version came out.

Is iTunes really that much better than everything else out there? Or is it just that it's not Microsoft?

Love it or hate it, iTunes is the only success story so far for paid downloading. Why? It's still got DRM.

as be windows do 2 lump toilet there in
be been satan need of bill gates

Apple Comps --> PCs
=
AOL --> the net

Every iTunes you buy comes with tax and we dont even have single Apple store here. Other WMA store dont do tax.

All of these so-called legal services are still selling RIAA material, right? I've got one word for them all: Boycott.

zippythechip... amen

I tried it last night.

I found the selection to be ok. It seems right now that their selection is limited to the most popular stuff out there. I would guess they will get a larger selection, including more obscure stuff as more people use it.

From a pricing standpoint, you can buy a track for 99 cents and most normal sized albums sell for $9.99. I find the album pricing very appealing but I think track by track should be a little lower.

Here is what I did not like. This will PREVENT me from using their service.

The songs you download are in their mp4 format. They are protected to an extent. The songs can only be played using the iTunes player, no WinAMP or MMJB. This protection is very easily bypassed if you have the right hardware.

You can not simply convert from their format to another compressible format. For me, this sucks and if the current process stays in place, the 99 cents they gotr from me last night will be the last 99 cents they get from me. You have to uncompress to a CD (burn it) which converts the track to the standard music CD format. From there you can rip to whatever format you like. But you must have an approved burner installed for all of this to work. I looked at their approved burner list and I have not been able to find one store sellling any of the approved drives. And if I can find one, they are expensive.

So in the end to change the format, you have to download their song, waste a CD by burning it, and then you can convert it to the format you want. This is unacceptable. I should not have to play these games by converting multiple times to get the format I want. I want to be able to download the song, convert it to a format of my choice, stick it on my streaming media server, and hear it anywhere in my house that I want, using any type of player. It is all about portability. And like other pay services out there, Apple has failed (in my opinion).

simply put... apple sucks

While I wouldn't say that it failed, I would definitely agree with you that it did not meet my needs as an album-oriented music listener with a non-AAC compatible player. I do, however, give you credit for trying out the system.

I'm not sure if this is the purpose of dmusic as a site, but I think it's obnoxious that so many people are so quick to dismiss every attempt at legitimate mp3 sales immediately. One word responses of "BOYCOTT!!" are as obnoxious and pointless as the one word response of "SUE!!" that we've been hearing from the RIAA. It seems that a lot of the people here are suffering the same affliction that the record industry is - the fat days of music selling/downloading are beginning to fade, and no one wants to admit that a compromise can (must?) be reached. While a lot of people are voicing concepts of morality and "fair use", I get the sense that many more people will find any price, under any circumstances, to be too much.

Basically, what I'm saying is this - I download songs/albums. Sometimes I end up buying the album, most times I don't. I don't think I'm alone in this. But I don't delude myself into believing that running Soulseek is some noble form of civil disobedience. And I am eagerly looking for valid ways of getting what I want at a reasonable price. iTunes is not that way, but it's a step in the right direction.

HalfWit

I think its pretty obnoxious for you to assume anything about *ANYONES* position.

A lot of us dismiss mp3 sales for a lot of reasons.

Some of them are that a lot of these offer less quality and versality of a technology that was invented by someone else meant for the world to use. Would you buy a cassette dubbed copy of an album from me?

Another reason is that a lot of these "legitimate" sites continue to rip off artists and for good concious reasons we dont support this model. If you happen to be one of those apathetic consumers who dont care..then thats up to you if you choose to leave your head in your own ass.
Others just absolutely boycott any products affiliated with the RIAA for their lack of sensibility to the consumers as well as their artists.
Those are for the most part, MY personal reasons as well as the fact that most of the music is so sh*tty I dont bother with downloading anyways.
Most of us are artists, techno-geeks, music lovers, and probably all of the above. The perspective that purchasing lower quality music files as nearly the same price of CD's is outrageous. To me anyway it is no different than the old days when we used to make mixed cassette tapes. These copyright laws are abused and distorted and been out of control for the longest time to the point now where we are losing our civil rights every day to cater to coporates.
I for one know why and where I stand.
If youre gonna gripe with nothing to back up other than bitch about how youre sick of listening to others protest. Leave this site or quit talking out of your ass.

SUE & PROTEST, PROTEST & SUE, PROTESTANT & SUNNI

indieWarrior-

Since I'm sure that you feel so smug and self-righteous by commanding me to "quit talking out of [my] ass", I'm pretty sure that you won't be coming back to continue any sort of dialogue.

First of all, as has been discussed several times, the quality of the iTunes music store tunes are superior to that of traditional mp3. It's not a "cassette dubbed copy of an album". To say that demonstrates a complete ignorance of the technology. People bought cassetes for decades, continue to by LPs today, and "settle" for CD sound (which is NOT a lossless and perfect incarnation of the sound originally produced by the artist). As it stands, AAC is a high-quality format delivered rapidly and reliably through the iTunes server. The company decided (or was forced) to support DRM in some form in order to appease the record labels. If you choose to go through the conversion to MP3 (as I have when I bought iTunes files), you will find that the audio quality loss is negligible. As I said in MY review of the store (if you had done a bit of research), you would have seen that I believe that the sound quality is fine if you're not examining wave analyses.

I'm not assuming anyone's opinions, I am making observations based on the statements that are publicly available on this site. I have been coming to this site since the hardware reviews were still cutting edge. I'm not "bitching" about how others are protesting, though I am certainly question the motives of many of the people who are protesting. Based on the attitudes that they have professed. I certainly believe that, for more of them than you'd care to admit, complaints of "fair use" and "artist royalties" are simply being used to mask a desire not to pay for the music they listen to.

I support the Prometheus Radio Project, independent radio stations, and the fight for low-wattage stations. I buy albums, singles, and vinyl. If you have a problem with me supporting "legitimate" online sales (however flawed) - tough. You don't pay my salary, you don't tell me how to spend my money. If you have a problem with me expressing an opinion that isn't completely centered around some false Marxist notion of bringing down the evil capitalist structure - then again, you are being as ignorant as Cary Sherman.

napsterboy: if it wasn't for apple, windoze and micro$hit wouldn't exist.

besides, M$ monitors your computer and tells you that you have to update their software everytime a new version comes out

face it, all the good ideas come from Apple, they innovate the PC industry, the industry they made