iTunes 7.0.2 released with fixes in 7.0.1, says Apple

[Kiran.dks]

Source: Yahoo News

Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday updated its iTunes music player and store software to version 7.0.2 in an attempt to answer users' complaints about its predecessor, which some have said stutters during audio or video playback.

The iTunes update for both Mac OS X and Windows was touted by Apple as adding support for the soon-to-be-released second-generation iPod shuffle, and to "address a variety of stability and performance issues found in iTunes 7 and 7.0.1." Other than that, Apple didn't specify what problems the update fixed.

Users on Apple's own discussion forums, however, reported that although some earlier issues with iTunes 7.0.1 had been corrected, others -- including playback stuttering -- remained.

"Still no fix for video playback stuttering in this version," one user identified as "Piscator" wrote. "Wasted Youth" wrote: "It's now manifesting itself on my system as stuttering after the first couple of seconds of almost every song, continuing for a couple of seconds. After that it's OK."

Till now the issues in the previous version is not yet given by Apple. Thinkdigit users using iTunes are welcome to discuss flaws in iTunes 7.0.1 version.

[iMav]

thanx for the ino kiran

[busyanuj]

iTunes has always remained buggy and troublesome on windows xp. i'd prefer to use wmp or winAmp anytime. more so because iTunes binds each iPod to specific PC, limiting iPod connectivity to other PCs.

[iMav]

i actually like itunes for my ipod .... n if u un-sync ur pods then its not pc specific

[Third Eye]

Thanks for telling us !

[busyanuj]

Originally Posted by mAV3

i actually like itunes for my ipod .... n if u un-sync ur pods then its not pc specific

care to elucidate?

[iMav]

Originally Posted by busyanuj

care to elucidate?

with pleasure

in itunes there is an option which lets itunes manage the entire music library and ur ipods library this is the sync option

in itunes 7 when u connect ur pod and click on the name of ur pod u get a page showing ur pod's details and below there will be 4 checkbox options ...

theres 1 for sync
another is for u managing ur music
another is for enabling disk use .....

unchk sync and chk i will manage my music .... this takes care of everything for my pod and my frenz pod atleast ... a fren of mine didnt un-sync his pod hence i was unable to connect his pod to my pc

im sorry i am not able to post a screen shot which wud hav made it very easy ... but i will do it by evening

[mail2and]

Yeah, iTunes isn't the best music player out there for Windows. Foobar is much better(I dunnoe the recent scene).

For OS X, it's the best, as it uses very less system resources.

[Kiran.dks]

I tried iTunes 7.0.1. I felt that it consumes much resources. It takes around 8 seconds to start, where as WMP takes just 3 seconds to load! One more issue i noticed is it uses considerable amount of RAM while running songs. For most of us who run music at background, this is a major flaw. We see that WMP, winamp and Mediamonkey consumes too little RAM.

[iMav]

i think its a mistake by us that we actually consider itunes for music playback .... the search in itunes is really awesome and also the batch edit of tags is good and helpful ..... i dont think it was actually developed to be a music player ....

[Kiran.dks]

Originally Posted by mAV3

i think its a mistake by us that we actually consider itunes for music playback .... the search in itunes is really awesome and also the batch edit of tags is good and helpful ..... i dont think it was actually developed to be a music player ....

If that is the case then what is the main intention or use of iTunes? Just to manage iD3 tags and syncronise with ipod? Do you think one would develop a software with that intention? Even if it is assumed so, there are all many options like playlists, Smart playlists, Volume leveller, Sound enhancer which are related for music playback. How do you justify that? I am sure that it is made for music playback.

[busyanuj]

Originally Posted by mAV3

with pleasure

in itunes there is an option which lets itunes manage the entire music library and ur ipods library this is the sync option

in itunes 7 when u connect ur pod and click on the name of ur pod u get a page showing ur pod's details and below there will be 4 checkbox options ...

theres 1 for sync
another is for u managing ur music
another is for enabling disk use .....

unchk sync and chk i will manage my music .... this takes care of everything for my pod and my frenz pod atleast ... a fren of mine didnt un-sync his pod hence i was unable to connect his pod to my pc

im sorry i am not able to post a screen shot which wud hav made it very easy ... but i will do it by evening

okay, post the screenshot.

sure, i'll give it a try then. i've been using the utility ephPod meanwhile to dump songs into my pod and a winAmp plugin to put videos into it.

[iMav]

Originally Posted by kiran.rkk

If that is the case then what is the main intention or use of iTunes? Just to manage iD3 tags and syncronise with ipod? Do you think one would develop a software with that intention? Even if it is assumed so, there are all many options like playlists, Smart playlists, Volume leveller, Sound enhancer which are related for music playback. How do you justify that? I am sure that it is made for music playback.

it was actually developed to transfer songs to ur ipod, playlists and smart playlists (u cannot make playlists on ur ipod withput pc connectivity other than on the run which is just 1 playlist) and sound leveller were also made for the ipod not for playback on ur pc .... hving said that as it was handling music and libraries it doesnt take much for developers of apple's calibre to add a playback feature and as newer versions are developed playback features wil also be enhanced as i said it was not developed for playback

[aryayush]

LOL! Where did you hear all that crap?
iTunes was released on January 9, 2001 and the iPod was launched in October 23, 2001. So, you basically mean that Apple launched an application essentially for managing and syncing music too and from an iPod more than nine months before the device was actually released? At that time, the company had not even thought about the iPod. The iPod was conceptualised in February, 2001. iTunes' primary purpose was, and remains to this day, to play music. Honestly, mAV3, I can't even believe you posted such ridiculous statements.

Originally Posted by kiran.rkk

I tried iTunes 7.0.1. I felt that it consumes much resources. It takes around 8 seconds to start, where as WMP takes just 3 seconds to load!

If it indeed takes eight seconds to start, it definitely is a problem with your PC, not with the poor software. I never heard of it taking as much as eight seconds to load - not on my PC (or Mac) and not on anyone else's either.

[Tech Geek]

Thanks for the info kiran.rkk

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by kiran.rkk

Users on Apple's own discussion forums, however, reported that although some earlier issues with iTunes 7.0.1 had been corrected, others -- including playback stuttering -- remained.

"Still no fix for video playback stuttering in this version," one user identified as "Piscator" wrote. "Wasted Youth" wrote: "It's now manifesting itself on my system as stuttering after the first couple of seconds of almost every song, continuing for a couple of seconds. After that it's OK."

I dunno what they are talking about but I have iTunes v7.0.1 and it has never caused any problems to me. I am going to update it today.

[Kiran.dks]

Originally Posted by aryayush

If it indeed takes eight seconds to start, it definitely is a problem with your PC, not with the poor software. I never heard of it taking as much as eight seconds to load - not on my PC (or Mac) and not on anyone else's either.

Well, if it is my PC problem, it should also reflect on other applications. All other applications have no problems in start-up time. However since you are sure about it, I would like know what start-up time do other iTunes users here are getting. Please let me know.

[iMav]

Originally Posted by aryayush

LOL! Where did you hear all that crap?
iTunes was released on January 9, 2001 and the iPod was launched in October 23, 2001. So, you basically mean that Apple launched an application essentially for managing and syncing music too and from an iPod more than nine months before the device was actually released? At that time, the company had not even thought about the iPod. The iPod was conceptualised in February, 2001. iTunes' primary purpose was, and remains to this day, to play music. Honestly, mAV3, I can't even believe you posted such ridiculous statements.

itunes was first developed as a media player for mac then wen ipod came apple used it for windows based ipods also

iTunes
Before the iPod, was the release of the iTunes software - just for Mac - which came out in January 2001. It was as it is today - a music jukebox, and a way of managing your music on your computer, but iPod functionality was yet to be built in. More Info

... make sure wat u call crap double chk things first b4 calling something crap .... playlists and smart playlists are essentially for ipods ... u shud be knowing that if ur using a ipod ... wrt to windows ....

here's how the thread has shaped ....

from the strat itself it has been clear tht itunes is problematic on windows and not so on mac .... itunes was released for windows platform for the windows based ipods .... and not as a standalone media player for windows ..... its main purpose on a mac is the same as wmp .... play media .... but on a windows platform is for ipod connectivity hence i said its our mistake (as in windows users) to consider itunes as a media player and it was withpout doubt released for windows or managing and syncing music too and from an iPod

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by mAV3

itunes was first developed as a media player for mac then wen ipod came apple used it for windows based ipods also

Yes, that is true. But Apple did not strip the application off any of it's features for the Windows version. It has exactly the same functionality on both Macintosh and Windows. So, if you are agreeing with me that it is a full fledged media player for the Macintosh, then why is it not so for Windows? And who gave you the idea that playlists are meant to be used in association with the iPod only? Playlists are used by most music listeners on a regular basis for categorising various genres of music according to their mood/taste, irrespective of whether they own an MP3 player or not.

Originally Posted by mAV3

from the strat itself it has been clear tht itunes is problematic on windows and not so on mac

First of all, it has caused no problems on either platform for me. And similar problems have been reported on both the platforms by Macintosh and Windows users alike. Why don't you understand! Apple is not like Microsoft. iTunes on Windows is the exact clone of iTunes on a Macintosh, unlike Windows Media Player for Windows and Macintosh.

Originally Posted by mAV3

itunes was released for windows platform for the windows based ipods .... and not as a standalone media player for windows ..... its main purpose on a mac is the same as wmp .... play media .... but on a windows platform is for ipod connectivity hence i said its our mistake (as in windows users) to consider itunes as a media player and it was withpout doubt released for windows or managing and syncing music too and from an iPod

Yes, it was but had the company not intended that the software be a full-fledged audio player, they would have stripped off the music playing features. They didn't, because iTunes is a media player in every sense of the word. And it is pretty competent when it comes to playing audio, beats the crap out of Windows Media Player if you consider only the music part. And there are many people who use iTunes instead of Windows Media Player as their primary audio playback software.

And BTW, there is no such thing as a 'windows based ipod'. All iPods are the same and the same iPod can be used with either Windows or a Macintosh.

[mail2and]

Mac users, who don't like iTunes for any reason, can use Cog.

It is a nice, no-frills audio player.

[aryayush]

Cog is a themeable and modularized intranet homepage written in perl. The aim is to make almost every aspect configurable via the web interface to give the user the freedom of choice.

Are you sure it is an audio player?

[mail2and]

Originally Posted by aryayush

Are you sure it is an audio player?

I had posted the wrong link. I had edited it a bit later.

The correct link is cogosx.sourceforge.net

for me itunes is the worst music player out there, on Windows

1) It only playes 2 formats, mp3 & mp4 (AAC)

2) a real memory hog, 40 MB when playing mp4 & minimised to tray, now i don't know whats inefficiant, Apple's programmers or Windows port, can't be Windows fault, as there are so many music players out there for Windows which work in a far better way then itunes

3) Album search etc, well...won't talk about that, i only got 110 songs

[aryayush]

Your first point is very valid and I don't know about the second one because I never noticed the memory usage of iTunes when I used to use Windows.
But your third point is what made me speak up. I do not wish to start a debate or anything here but iTunes has a very well integrated and awesome search feature. It searches as-you-type and is instantaneous. Windows Media Player 11 offers similar functionality now so they are both equal in this respect.
__________

Originally Posted by mail2and

I had posted the wrong link. I had edited it a bit later.

The correct link is cogosx.sourceforge.net

Pros: Supports almost every audio format out there.
Cons: Very very basic functionality. No extra features.

[mail2and]

Originally Posted by aryayush

Cons: Very very basic functionality. No extra features.

Yeah, as I said, it's for someone who has like 512 MB RAM, has 12 apps open, and wants to listen to music

Or for people who've got music in various other formats, and don't want to lose quality while converting to mp3/aac.

Btw, Ayush don't feed the trolls. They'd go away when they realize no one is listening to them.

[Kiran.dks]

Guys here it is...
I surveyed through varoius forums and review sites and found out some problems which are hair rising!

Here are some postings..

The delay at start up and the delay (around 12-14 seconds) when you double-click a file to play in ITunes (i.e one not alreday in your library) still persist.

on 7.0, it manages to freeze not only itunes, but the whole computer upon starting for the first time (specifically during gapless playback calculation of the 14TH SONG!). thought 7.0.1 would've fixed it. no dice. i got a G5 imac 1.8ghz with 1.5 gigs of ram.

Thank you apple for Itunes 7, Check the Awsome Features I found!
1. Last 5-10 seconds of every song, chopped off.
2. Long Load time (mostly due to Gapless play back autostart)
3. Interface Lag.
4. Bricked Ipod!
5. Ipod updater that cant download the software for my ipod.
6. Ipod updater that cant revert to my previous Firmware.
7. Crashing when loading large Music directories.
8. Crashing when ripping mulitple CDs.
(I'm sure my ipod isnt perminently bricked but as is without access to a mac I wont be able to restore it in XP.)

7.0.1 is terrible becuase when yo open, there is a lag between when you open it and when you can actually use it.
also it uses waaay more RAM than 7.0.

At first I was thrilled, but the new iTunes is a resource hog like I have NEVER seen before in XP. It's damn close to unusable, and I have a dual-core FX 4200 with 2GB of ram. It's simply *maddening* to add, remove or edit tags

Y the f**k isn't someone dissing this little pile of **** of a person ??? So much loyality for such a laggy, buggy resource hungry prog. I don't get it.

I've found that if I have iTunes playing a song, I can't play any movies at the same time. Music stutters, movie stalls - whole system just about crashes.

Honestly, iTunes 7 is the best music player for those of us who care about our music library. Despite the fact that it eats up to 250mgbs of memory while shuffling through my album art, the bugs that have plagued my Windows compatriots haven't affected my Mac version of the program. I'm sure I'll find out more reasons to dislike it later, but for now I'm still reeling at the fun of the UI.

So far, I've heard of some nasty problems with Windows versions (such as crashing, some audio sounding choppy, and refusal to recognize the new iPod Nano), but I've had mostly excellent results on both platforms (a tired old PowerBook G4 and a Dell XPS P4 desktop). System requirements have increased from the last version, including a 500MHz Pentium class processor with 256MB of RAM--we recommend more for both platforms--for Windows XP/2000, and a 500MHz G3 processor and 256MB RAM for Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. Like we said, performance is slightly sluggish, particularly when flipping through Cover Flow albums. Video playback (the most processor-intensive activity) is smooth. While I didn't experience the multiple forum user claims of tinny and choppy audio, system crashes, and "breaking" prior relationships with devices and features such as podcasts, I hope Apple has an update that addresses these issues soon.

The list is endless, which means this is a issue in iTunes earlier versions.
iTunes is a big resource hug - not at all justified for a music playback software!

Now since iTunes 7.0.2 is released, we should see whether these bugs are fixed or not.

[iMav]

and wen i said its our mistake to consider it a music player ???? ipod ho to songs transfer karne ke liye use karo nahi to upar wale sab probs aate hain

and arya theres no difference in the hardware for a windows based and mac based ipods but if u connect an ipod to windows platform then u cant connect it to a mac without restoring it (as good as formatting it) .... hv not tried it but hav read it on various other forums

[Kiran.dks]

Guys..I have tried iTunes 7.0.2 these days and found out these things:

1. System resource consumption has reduced to considerable extent.
2. Now iTunes is more stable. Earlier it was unstable crashing for very little reasons.
3. I think they have fine tuned 'Sound enhancer'. It offers crisp sound reproduction who's output quality can be varied. Really awesome!

[nix]

well i know the itunes is a resource hog...esp on my p3 800mhz i feel it more...but still i've been using it since long coz the sound sounds so good...there is a slight difference in audio quality of the itunes and winamp...itunes sounds better. i use i tunes 6...its less resource hog...

[ambandla]

First of all, itunes is not for casual listeners. It's for music addicts having loads and loads of music. It's one on the best music management tools available.

I have 20GB+ songs and itunes is the best for me to organize, sync tunes to ipod etc. It's dead simple interface made my life easy as I am music addict. Best way to use itunes is with ipod. Create a smart playlist and enable automatic sync with ipod and you will get songs that you exactly need in your ipod. With 1GB RAM, I don't think itunes taking mere 40MB is an issue. Moreover, I can play itunes while playing NFS Most Wanted or any game.

Yes. Itunes 7 is extremely buggy. but 7.0.2 has none of those bugs.

Itunes plays mp3 and mp4. yes. My entire collection is in mp4 format. I buy original music only and rip my songs to mp4. Why? A 128Kbps mp4 track offers better clarity than 192Kbps mp3 track and takes less amount of disc space. I hate wma like forever.

For me, itunes is far far far better than WMP.


Coming to ipod, Unless auto sync is selected, songs can be removed/added to ipod from itunes in any PC. I have laptop and a desktop and I don't know when I am going to connect ipod to which one.