Well, Hell has frozen over. Apple has released iTunes for Windows and has done an amazing job with it. It is almost exactly the same as the mac version, except for the title bar and menubar and the lack of anti-aliased fonts. Besides those three minor things, it behaves the same! The setup is really simple and it works right out of the gate. Rendezvous sharing even works seamlessly (if it doesn't work, it is likely your firewall is blocking it.) I'm really impressed with what they have done, and it seems that others are too.
I'm totally digging the new game for my iPod too. The music quiz is a good way to pass the time and make sure you know all your music! Supposedly on-the-go playlists can be saved too, which is great added functionality.
But the big news for me just came out today. This article on MacRumors quotes the President of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA) in saying that they are in negotiations with Apple and he has spoken to Steve Jobs:
"I'm happy to say that the process of negotiating a licensing deal with Apple is now under way. I met last week with representatives of the company, and I'm confident that our discussions will move ahead quickly. Last week, Steve Jobs told me that Apple couldn't wait to come to Canada, and that it was a very high priority for him. I trust that this enthusiasm will be reflected in a quick and mutually successful negotiation."
He does however note that his organization represents only the artists, and Apple will have to make a deal with the record labels as well. Nevertheless, This is very encouraging and provides some hope for a Canadian iTunes Music Store in the near future.
As Jeff knows, he and I disagree on the good-ness of having an iTunes for Windows. I personally think this a big blunder on Apple's part.
Why?
-First of all iTunes is just another example of how things work better on the Mac, by releasing a Windows version, it takes away one of the things that make macs better. If Apple is so committed to getting users to "switch", then they should never have given Windows users a reason not to switch.
-Next, Apple making anything for Windows just shows that they are giving in to the fact that they are a small market, secondary, niche operating system. This, in my opinion is untrue to the very nature of Apple and the Mac OS. They should continue to be the fighting underdog they've always been.
-Finally, in the mid 80's apple licensed to Microsoft the right to use several patented features of the Mac OS such as icons, windows, etc. for their Windows operating system. As you can see, this was the biggest mistake they could have ever made aside from not licensing their operating system in the early 80's. This is the same kind of move, it will have the same negative effect.
In conclusion iTunes for Windows is bad. The end.
The above comments would be true if iTunes for Windows was intended to make people switch to Macs. It's not. It's to make the iPod - the most popular mp3 player for any platform, work more easily with Windows and to sell more songs in the iTunes store.
Anyway, I hit comment to comment about iTunes store in Canada. As far as I'm concerned, this can't happen soon enough (:
I think that the Music Store and iTunes is intended to sell more iPods rather than sells songs on the iTunes store. Remember, Apple doesn't make much money on the iTunes store, but they make a lot on iPods.
I disagree with you Horkins. I think that rather than making people not want macs as much, iTunes will open up Windows users to a well designed product from Apple. This in turn will make them realize that Apple makes quality stuff. It will help to dispell the mythical belief that many Windows users hold that "Macs suck".