iTunes 7 is a PITA ...

[Carol Haynes]

Where do Apple get off ...

I just updated to iTunes 7.0.1 and was astonished to discover an "iTunes Outlook Addin" had appeared in Outlook !! In Outlook I removed the addin only to find the next time I started iTunes it reinstalled it !! I guess it is to sync Oultook data with an iPod but given that I don't have (or want) an iPod what is the point of an extra addin loading every time I check my emails?

Not only that having deleted the unwanted icon on my desktop it placed a new icon on my desktop.

Surely they could have a few options during installtion so that you can choose the features you need to load!

[Darwin]

This is my main beef with iTunes - Apple's insistence that the ipodservice run every time I open iTunes AND the fact that I have to manually kill the service as it doesn't close when I close iTunes. I don't own an mp3 player, let alone an ipod, and I do not need this service. Disabling it, setting it to manual - none of it works (i.e. it starts with iTunes anyway)! Carol - you've prompted me to go digging into the com add-ins that load with Outlook and lo and behold, there is an iTunes add-in! I'm getting ready to ditch iTunes altogether. I quite like it as a player but this is absurd.

[Darwin]

UPDATE: this thread got me thinking, so I tried something I hadn't tried before - deleting the ipod folder from the program files directory. Worked like a charm - no more ipodservicer.exe running whenever I run iTunes... As for the outlook extension - I removed via Outlook-Tools-options-other-advanced-com-addins. The first time I ran Outlook afterward it whined about extend.dat not being found but restarting Outlook cleaned that up, too. I'll have to see if this "fix" survives a reboot.

These are annoyances with simple solutions. Apple should make these services and add-ins options that are configureable from with iTunes. At version 7.1, I can't believe that they are still doing this...

[JavaJones]

iTunes is a piece of crap, come on guys. Get Winamp, a few plugins, and the iTunes skin and you're set. More functionality, lower resource use, and a better all around player. The only thing you can't do it in is buy from the iTunes store. If that's what you like to do, you're sunk. Oh not because you can't do it through Winamp, but because you've been buying into their propreitary DRM'd junk all this time.

Seriously though this is just business as usual for Apple. They always know what's best for their customers, and that's why so many of their sheep love them to death. They evidently can't - or don't want to have to - think for themselves. Apple thinks I need to have Outlook sync with my iPod? Sure, sounds great! Apple thinks I need the Yahoo Toolbar with Quicktime? Yes sir! Apple thinks allowing other players to play Quicktime files legally would be bad, well I won't use any other player, no sir! Even though the official Quicktime player is slow and bloated on the PC. No sir!

It really does amaze me how much crap people will put up with from Apple before they move on. I honestly think there are lots of other equally good or better solutions out there for most of Apple's products. Their iLife software may be the notable exception - there are few home movie editor applications that match iMovie anyway. But aside that, I'm not impressed. At least they're finally selling their hardware at reasonable prices though.

- Oshyan

[Carol Haynes]

The problem is that I have hundreds of tracks that I got free from iTunes store and a few that I have bought because they weren't available elsewhere (so they are DRMed). To be honest I am almost at the point of simply burning all the DRM stuff to CD and then ripping them back as MP3 - OK so you lose a few bits in the move but who cares (especially when I am listening to them on a noisy PC anyway).

I tried WinAmp a while ago and didn't really get on with it that much (couldn't quite see the point) but I do have WMP 10 and Creative MediaSource installed either of which makes a pretty good noise - though of the two I prefer WMP as it is a bit simpler to use.

[Darwin]

I'm in the same boat as Carol - lots of iTunes store tracks on my PC that I've yet to convert (ie burn to CD and re-rip) to mp3 format. I keep iTunes installed for that reason...

[Carol Haynes]

FWIW according to Apple's website you should not disable iPodService even if you don't have an iPod !!

I did find a reference on the iTunes forum on Apple Support website that suggested you can not only disable it but remove it. They suggested:

Control Panel > Services
Stop the iPodService
Open a DOS window
execute the command

SC DELETE iPodService

I haven't tried it but I'd guess Apple got wise to this which is why the new version has a self repairing installer that starts automatically if the original setup has been changed. Might be worth a try though!

[JavaJones]

WMP 11 is supposed to be nice, and includes store functionality so you may be able to leave iTunes behind. Store items are probably in MS's proprietary WMA format though anyway. *sigh* I believe there are conversion/DRM-removal apps out there that can make your iTunes tracks listenable on Winamp and other players. The format itself is just a variant of AAC (higher quality per bitrate than MP3) and not really difficult to play. So I'd suggest trying to remove the DRM or directly convert the tracks and then keep them around.

- Oshyan

[Darwin]

Hi Oshyan and Carol,

I've used the DRM removal apps for iTunes but they are not able to deal with the version 6.2 and above, sadly. WMP 11 is really nice - I'm running the latest beta, and like it a lot. Ultimately, I don't "live" in a media player, so am not that motivated to look for ways around iTunes drawbacks. I simply have a number of tracks (including whole albums) that I've purchased because I couldn't get them on-line through any other legal means...

Thanks for the comments about the ipodservice, Carol. Looks like I might be in for a surprise the next time I reboot! Oh well... 

[JavaJones]

Whether or not you "live" in a media player is unfortunately not all that matters, at least as far as Apple and iTunes are concerned. The services that run constantly are a real pain. Just the fact that you have to go to these lengths to get rid of them should be a big fat red flag. I strongly believe that any system that has iTunes running on it (PC anyway - somehow Apple software always seems to run a lot better on Mac's.. Hmm.. ) will be slower as a result, even while iTunes is not running. I can only back this up with anecdotal evidence mind you, but given the number of services that run from it by default it shouldn't be surprising.

- Oshyan

[Darwin]

Oshyan - no doubt you are right. I'm having the same experience with MusicMatch, which I bought in 1998 and for at least two years have kept on my system out of sentimentality more than anything else. It's become very bloated and likes to have all sorts of things run at startup even if, as is the case, I don't open the app from one month to the next. Actually, you've given me the impetus to ditch it! I'm uninstalling as soon as I post this missive.

If I was more proactive, I'd ditch a lot of other resource hogging detritus as well, but at the moment everything is running sweetly. As you might gather, given that I am posting on this site, I love to mess with my computer and its settings. Thus, annoying as iTunes is, buggering about with it and other settings is therapeutic for me! Don't get me wrong, though, if iTunes really did start to noticeably degrade the performance of my computer it'd be gone in a heartbeat. Perhaps I should rip it out of my system and see if there is a difference? Well, that'll have to wait for me to get off my rump and burn the DRM'd tracks to CD. Might just do it, eventually...

FWIW, I've had no troubles with iTunes DRM method while I have had several with Puretracks (they use WMA). What a nightmare - I paid for a handfull of tracks and most of them are unplayable because the licenses for them have been corrupted, or weren't migrated to a new harddrive properly, etc. Contacting the vendor to have the license re-issued, even with receipts, is like driving a spike into your own forehead. Now THAT'S a PIA (I guess that should be PIF...)! Actually, that's what prompted me to try iTunes in the first place.

[JavaJones]

Woo. Die Musicmatch, die! Definitely another app in this category I dislike.

To be perfectly honest I don't know of an "all in one" app like that - player, organizer, ripper, burner - that I really like. I much prefer to use separate apps and I frankly think it's best that way. The closest I've found that I fairly like is MediaMonkey which I think encompasses pretty much all of iTunes' functionality with much less resource use, no annoying "services", and more customizability.

- Oshyan

[Darwin]

Yeah, MMJB is no more -at least where my computer is concerned. That's the first time in at least eight years. I'd feel sad BUT what a colossus it has become! As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I haven't actually used it in ages, mostly because with the latest version (10, I think) waiting for it to open was like watching paint dry... Anyway, I do not miss it (although no significant difference in the performance of my notebook as a result...). Now, if there was just an "iTunesalternatve"... (I love the quicktime and real alternatives).

[JavaJones]

Hehe, yes I love Quicktime and Real Alternative too. An iTunes alternative *that worked with the iTunes store* would be a godsend. Heck I might even use it then. As it is Apple has lost me as a music customer because you have to use iTunes and all the music is in their format. I know they have to satisfy their RIAA partners, I just wish a more compatible and reasonable DRM solution could be found. Although I'll agree that Apple's DRM is less draconian and hard to deal with than some other systems, depending on your use.

- Oshyan