I like iTunes, I like Macs, I like the Mac OS, and I like progress, but when I downloaded the new version of iTunes - version 7 - I found a lot not to like.
There are a number of improvements in iTunes 7 - namely gapless playback (great for those classic albums - not that I've tried that yet), visual browsing of albums (like in a record store), a reorganisation of the interface to support all the media iTunes now supports, and other bits and pieces.
Sadly, almost at first glance, it looks UGLY. All caps sums it all up - all caps is all over the iTunes application and in the iTunes Store (now, not just the iTunes Music Store). Almost anyone who's been on the Internet for any length of time know that all caps is SHOUTING!
Sadly, it's not just that - the colours (or colors for you Americans) look like some kind of Windows Vista advance release; the icon looks uglier (somehow looking like it was designed in 256 colours); the handy import/burn/update (depending on which screen you're in) button has gone; the visualiser button has gone (I know not everyone uses it but I miss it); there's a new button which looks like the visualiser button that lets you browse your library (if you're too lazy to hit the library in the top left); I now have to go to a separate view to see the progress of my downloads; and that doesn't begin to hit the lack of visual consistency between applications (queue another refit of the entire iLife application set which will be out of whack until it comes out).
Then there's the bugs (and the stupidity) - this release seems incredibly buggy. I'm not an iTunes power user but I've already come across the inability to edit my Shuffle's playlist offline (very important if you want to get your playlist right) - the option's disappeared. Updating of your PodCasts has changed to refreshing - and the button's moved. And then we hit what I haven't encountered yet like authorisation problems; increased skipping/processor use; and more (see MacFixit or other Mac - and Windows - sites).
Oddly though, it's the ugly stick it has been hit with that gets me the most - this is an Apple application after all. Please, Leopard (Mac OS X.5), don't look like this!!!
