MNteractive

This morning, Apple released iTunes 7, bringing the interface elements first seen in Mail.app into their media player; borderless sidebar, flatter buttons & scrollbars, smoother, more defined lines.

The application as a whole is far more readable after this refresh. There’s more vertical space between the elements in the left-hand ‘Sources’ column, in-fact the ‘Sources’ label is gone, leaving only the components.

Of all the features Apple introduced in this version; browse by album art (CoverFlow view) and movie downloads, the biggest one for me is the ability to turn off things.

In fact, I did a search for ‘hiding sources in iTunes’ right before I upgraded. It came up empty, but in the new iTunes, I can uncheck Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Audiobooks, iPod Games, Radio, and Shuffle to hide all the bits I’ll never use and don’t want to see. If only I could do the same with the iTunes Store.

The next nice improvement is the silly radioactive Burn Disc icon is gone - reduced to a simple, clear, non-scary ‘Burn Disc’ button.

Thanks Apple.

On the downside, more DRM-ed stuff.

I’ve grown to absolutely detest Apple’s DRM, and I don’t think I’ll buy songs from the iTMS in the future” - Wil Wheaton

I’m with Wil.

Also, the new iPod Shuffles are this fall’s hippest fashion accessory, look for your neighborhood fashion victims sporting 3 or 4, mashing up into a single pair of white earbuds.