I couldn’t take it anymore. iTunes is now gone from my PC, replaced by an old friend, Winamp.
When I bought my iPod there was very little choice of application that could sync with my iPod. I quickly found that Windows Media Player didn’t support the iPod. I knew that other applications existed but I was resistant to try a third party solution. So I did it, I installed iTunes.
I have been using iTunes for months now. I am generally pleased with its performance. I rarely sync with my iPod, only when I purchase a new CD. My frustration started with some quirky iTunes behavior. Whenever I would attach my iPod the settings on the iPod would get set back to the default. And the only setting I wanted it to save was to turn off the click wheel sound. Is that too much to ask? Also, I became frustrated with the fact that iTunes refuses to minimize into the system tray.
Note to Apple: If you are going to make an application that runs on Windows, use common Windows features. I am not a Mac user, I don’t have a neat little dashboard to keep all of my minimized windows. I need the real estate on my taskbar for when I have too many windows open at the same time.
In summation, although iTunes runs on windows it does not run like a typical Windows application. God knows how many iPods have been sold to Windows users. Probably more than were sold to Mac users.
Prior to purchasing my iPod I was happily using Windows Media Player. Because of a lack of iPod support, I am forced to look at other alternatives. Get over yourself Gates, you can’t stop the iPod. I found myself back where I started, with my old buddy Winamp. Winamp includes support for the iPod via a plugin called ml_ipod, developed at http://mlipod.sf.net. After some general usage I will report how well this combination works for me.