[Star Traveler]

You said — I lothe iTunes. Worst. software. ever.

—

Actually, I would have to disagree, because I bought the software before it was ever at Apple, and it was the best software around for doing what it did. I thought those software developers did a *bang-up* job of designing their software.

And apparently, so did Apple, as they purchased it from those developers, after they gained a major marketshare in the market (for that software). And since that time, Apple has continued to improve and improve it all along.

I can’t see that it was ever bad software before Apple had it and it was simply developed by a couple of developers and I can’t see that it’s bad software now, since Apple has continually improved it ever since they bought it from those developers.

[kevkrom]

iTunes has been my default media player since before I got my iPod about 6-7 years ago (still running the same one, by the way, until I get an iPhone early next year).

I will say that on Windows XP, iTunes is a bit of a hog — it does take up a lot of memory and stays resident even when I don;t want it to. On a laptop PC that was already starting to strain at the edges of its lifespan, I simply had to remove it because it was the final nail in the coffin. (I’ve since wiped and reloaded XP on that computer, and am sticking to the bare minimum of software necessary.)

Now, on my iMac, iTunes runs like a dream. The only thing I don’t like — and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea anyway — is that it stops playing if you “fast switch” to another user. So if I’ve got a playlist going, and the Mrs. switches in to check email, it stops playing. But other than that, I’m good with it. There’s always new features to be desires, of course — I’d love a “metaplaylist” option (playlists of playlists) and a more rigorous “advanced” feature for smart playlists (”A or B” is a lot easier than “not C and not D and not E and not F and...” ).