Tim Gaden13 September 2006, 3:08 AM
iTunes 7 has a few handy new features: a quick backup option, the ability to download high-res album art for your entire library free of charge, and the ability to scroll through your album covers.
At the same time as it refreshed its iPod range, Apple also released iTunes 7, its media playing software for Mac and Windows.
For the most part, it is an incremental upgrade, incorporating some new features in the iTunes Store, but two new features stand out: a quick backup option and the ability to scroll through your album covers.
Apple has often used iTunes as a test bed for new interface design.
The "Mail-like look" which is currently so popular with Apple and third party developers saw its debut in iTunes early last year. Apple has tweaked the design again, offering a new look which may be a sign of things to come for Mac OS X as a whole.
The new "Back up to disc..." option in the File menu is particularly welcome, making it even easier to guard your iTunes music library (with potentially thousands of dollars worth of purchased iTunes music) against disaster.
In the goodl old "eye candy" Department, iTunes 7 offers a new way to browse your library, designed to simulate the experience, which will be familiar to old-timers, of flipping through a shelf of LPs.
Select the "Browse by album" option and you can scroll quickly and easily backwards and forwards through your music:
What is particularly cool about this is that there's an option to automatically download high-res album art for your entire MP3 library from the iTunes store... no purchase required. Apple is at pains to point out that this is not the crummy low-res album art from Amazon.com, which is what the freeware album art utilities use.
For Mac users, iTunes 7 and an update to Quicktime and Front Row are downloadable via Software Update. For Windows users, iTunes 7 can be downloaded here (deselect the two tick boxes if you don't want to sign up for Apple's newsletters.)