How To Use iTunes
Whether you like Tony Bennett or the Smashing Pumpkins, iTunes is a good program that will let you organize and digitize your music as well as purchase audio and video files.
To get iTunes, you simply download the free iTunes software from the Apple website. Although iTunes is an Apple program, it can be used with Windows 2000 and Windows XP, as well as Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later. Once downloaded the program is easy to navigate. Previous versions of iTunes often confused users by having separate windows for the Music Store and your personal collection of music, but this has been corrected in Version 6.
When using iTunes, the left-hand column is a directory to all of the iTunes' major areas. This is where you will see a choice for your personal Library as well as access to podcasts, video, and online streaming radio stations. In this column you will also see any playlists (lists of your own personal music choices) that you have created as well as songs or video you have played frequently and recently. In this area, there is also a choice that leads you to the iTunes Music Store.
At the Apple Music Store you can purchase and download music. Apple has also recently added videos of a few current television shows like Desperate Housewives and Lost, and is now stocking a wide variety of audio books. You can also download free podcasts, which are like homegrown radio shows. Since the video feature has only recently been added, the iTunes music store has only a few videos, but you can expect that to change quickly. It already has more than 2 million songs, 25,000 podcasts and 11,000 audiobooks. iTunes videos are $1.99 each, songs costs 99 cents, albums are $9.99 and up.
The larger window to the right shows you a list of files, podcasts, etc., depending on what you selected in the left-hand column. If you click on the Music Store icon, it will display Music Store information. To use the iTunes music store to purchase music, you must create an an Apple account and give your credit card information. You can, however, download free podcasts without registering.
Even if you don't want to purchase or download anything from the Music Store, iTunes offers you an easy way to get your music CDs into your computer. Simply insert a CD into your DVD player and iTunes will start automatically. If you are connected to the Internet, iTunes will search the Internet to find information for each track on the CD. Put a checkmark in front of each track that you want to copy and click on the Import button. The songs will be compressed and copied to your computer. When you're done, click on the Eject button in the lower right hand corner to eject the CD.
iTunes also will help you organize the music on your computer. It allows you to create playlists and folders so you can keep everything in order. It's worth investigating iTunes advanced options as well. You can even create a self-updating smart list of music so that each time you import or purchase a song with the parameters you specify it is automatically added to your smart list.
iTunes uses a somewhat proprietary encryption method called Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), which works very well with iPod music players but does not work with most other portable music players. If you have a music player other than an iPod, you can obtain and organize your music using a different music store such as MSN Music, Wal-Mart Music, and Yahoo! Music, which support other music players.
If, however, you have an iPod, or just want to play and organize music or podcasts on your computer, iTunes is a great way to go. If you own an iPod, it's very easy to copy songs, videos, and podcasts onto your iPod by plugging it into the computer then clicking on the Update button. For more details on using iTunes, see the Apple iTunes tutorial and visit the iTunes discussion groups.
AARP Resources
There's a Podcast Just for You
Additional Resources
Information about iTunes on Wikipedia.org
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