By Michael Muchmore Features just keep piling up for Apple's killer media-player software, iTunes (free). The latest update adds support for features of the upcoming iOS 8, but also throws a small bone to current iTunes users with Extras for HD Movies, which enhance your viewing pleasures of Hollywood's latest releases. The last few point versions of iTunes saw the addition of iTunes Radio, more podcasting features, and an improved Mini Player—just a few of the features that make iTunes a powerhouse for satisfying not only your ears, but also your eyes.
Installing iTunes 11.3
You can get iTunes for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8 in addition to Macintosh OS X version 10.6.8 or later. I tested the new iTunes on Windows 7. It's a 108MB download for Windows, larger than any previous version, which have already been on the portly side. By comparison, Windows Media Player weighs in at just 12MB and MusicBee is just 15MB. The Mac installer for iTunes is even larger, at 224MB.
The installer requires a reboot and makes iTunes your default player for music files, but you can uncheck the box for this if you prefer an alternative like Windows Media Player or VLC.
On first run of the app, after agreeing to the updated license terms, tutorial videos explain new features. A privacy option asks if you'd like to share details of your music library and listening habits with Apple so iTunes can display album covers and even artist photos from concerts and studio sessions. This choice also enables iTunes' store recommendations, since poor old Apple really needs you to buy more and more content.
Interface
The interface is more trimmed down and muted than in previous versions of iTunes, if that's possible—and it looks great. Even the standard app menu is gone in the Windows version, replaced by a square icon in the extreme top left. (You can re-enable the menu if you like from that newfangled menu.) The AirPlay button is still there, so you can throw whatever you're playing to a home entertainment system attached to an Apple TV or one that supports AirPlay natively. You also get basic play/pause, fast-forward, and reverse controls, as well as a volume slider and a search box along the top of the program window.
Switching among Music, Movies, and TV Shows is instantly accomplished by using buttons at top left, which drops down choices for these media types. It may be unfamiliar to those used to the old iTunes sidebar, but once you get it, it's a snappier way to navigate the app. To get the Classical choice in the Music view, you have to go into the Preferences dialog's Views section, and tick the first option, Composers.
To switch between your library and the iTunes Store view you tap a button at top right. Next to the dropdown is a cloud icon for iCloud that's merely an indicator of whether iCloud is connected or actively downloading.
When you click on an album a panel the full width of the program window drops down, showing tracks, timings, album art, and play options (shuffle, repeat, and so on). You can also add album tracks to any playlist or to Up Next from here. In a slick design touch, the color of this panel is based on the album cover, so each will usually have a different shade. A button in this tinted area also lets you see related music available on the iTunes Store.
A key feature introduced in iTunes 11 is Up Next. Accessible from a bullet-list icon next to the top-center song information area, it shows you a list of songs on deck to be played. You can move or remove upcoming songs with the cursor.
A clock icon takes you in the other direction chronologically, showing the list of songs you've already listened to. A context menu next to song entries includes choices for Add to Up Next, as well as simply Play Next, and adding to playlists.
Mini Player
For times when you don't want iTunes taking up all or even a significant portion of your computer's screen, the application has long offered a Mini Player interface, accessible from the View menu. For several years the Mini Player remained unchanged as a bare-bones tool, offering nothing more than a play/pause button, volume slider, rewind/fast forward buttons, and a collapsible panel showing what's playing. Once your selected songs were finished playing, the Mini Player didn't give you any options for choosing more music—you had to open the larger window view.
The Mini Player is now even smaller, though it still doesn't shrink down to the minuscule size of WinAmp's mini-player sliver. But it does offer a lot more capabilities. It's also easier to access, as a top-level choice from the main menu. The play controls now only show up when you hover the cursor over the player, otherwise you simply see song info, including a tiny album cover. It has icons for search and the What's Next list, so you don't have to open the larger iTunes window to start playing something new. When you choose either of these, the tiny window drops down a box showing song art and titles.
The Mini player now offers album art and a progress bar, and you can click to get a CD-size view in a separate window. The Mini Player lets you drop down the playlist, and the album cover drops down right from the Mini player. If you move the cursor away, the art is all you see.
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