Apple Archive

How Apple Software (and Not Just iTunes) Could Improve the Windows Experience

- 2003.06.13

Since the iTunes Music Store was launched, over 3 million songs have been sold. This is especially amazing, since the service has only been available to Mac users in the U.S. running OS X.

We know that a version of iTunes for Windows will be out sometime this year.

What will this mean for Apple?

First of all, Apple is no longer just a hardware and OS maker, as it basically was in the mid 90s. This is a given - since the introduction of AppleWorks, iMovie, iTunes, and the rest, Apple seems to keep coming out with more and more software.

Up until now, this software has been for the Mac. This summer, however, iTunes for Windows will be released, giving Windows users access to the iTunes Music Store and better integration with the Windows version of the iPod.

This carries many benefits for Windows users, as well as giving them a taste of some of the great software available for the Mac (which I am sure Apple hopes will compel them to buy a Mac as their next computer).

Releasing a Windows version of iTunes can only help Apple. In addition to multiplying the number of songs sold, it will finally give Windows a quality MP3 jukebox. I've been using WinAmp on my Windows PC, which is fine, but it doesn't let you sort your MP3s by name, artist, or title, and the controls are smaller and more complicated than in iTunes.

Since Apple is starting to make roads into the Windows PC market, should it perhaps start porting other software over to Windows? (AppleWorks has been available to Windows users for years.)

If Apple decides to, I would expect iMovie to be next, in order to compete with Microsoft's lackluster Windows Movie Maker, which is bundled with Windows Me and XP. While iMovie has been around for several years on the Mac, I believe it would benefit Apple to release a Windows version.

Perhaps if Apple were to "dumb it down" a little bit, it would create more of an incentive for the Windows video editor to buy a Mac to edit home movies - or Apple could make the Mac version more substantial by giving it extra features.

I would also like to see iCal accessible over the Internet on any type of computer. While I don't use iCal personally, for those who do use it, it is nice to be able to be able to see and alter your appointments or plans from anywhere, on a Mac or PC (you can share them using .mac, but I can't find anything about editing them over the Internet).

Perhaps Apple's Windows software will serve to simplify the Windows OS a little bit, since much of the software coming out for Windows seem to be overly complicated or poorly designed.

Who ever thought we'd be looking to Apple to make the Windows experience better.

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