September 13, 2005 6:30 PM PDT

iTunes upgrade has users griping

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September 7, 2005
update A new version of Apple Computer's iTunes software released last week appears to be giving many iPod owners headaches, according to reports from across the Web.

Complaints about the new iTunes 5 surfaced over the past few days on numerous blogs and discussion boards, including the company's own discussion board at Apple.com.

Apple acknowledged the problem and said it's working on an update.

"Apple is aware that a limited number of customers are experiencing issues with installing iTunes 5," the company said in a statement. "We're working to resolve this and expect to have a software update early next week."

iTunes is a desktop computer program that comes with the iPod music player and allows people to transfer music to the device. It also represents Apple's first big foray into designing software that works with Microsoft Windows.

People have reported a range of problems with the updated program, while others said the software works fine. Among those reporting problems, many say that trying to install the program causes their computers to crash. Others report that once they install the program, it won't transfer music purchased at the iTunes Music Store to their iPod, deletes playlists, interferes with other programs or generally wreaks havoc on their computers.

"What's worse, rolling back (to a previous version) can be difficult or impossible, and Apple's lack of official recognition or public response regarding these problems is driving many users up the wall," Lauren Weinstein, co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility, wrote in a letter posted online.

Several contributors to the Apple Discussions forum claim Apple customer service representatives have acknowledged the problem. "I called Apple re: iTunes 5 upgrade and was told they're working on a fix for it," James Robinson, Jr. wrote in a Tuesday post. "They said iTunes 5 definitely had a bug in it."

Yet it's unclear how widespread the problems are or what's causing them. In any case, the call for help on Apple Discussions highlights how attached people have become to their iPods. Subject lines on the board include: I feel like screaming!!; i Tunes v5...causing severe stress!!!; Help! Need to find my music!; and HELP i miss my ipod/itunes!!!.

77 comments

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Wait for the .1 release?
I let my non-essential machine get upgraded via Software Update. No problems, but then I don't use iTunes that often there (any version).

Maybe I'll wait for a .1 release of iTunes before upgrading from 4.9 on the main machine.

Real world experience?
Posted by pencoyd (82 comments )
Reply Link Flag
or maybe .2?
Luckily, I haven't upgraded either!
Posted by berniemcginn (25 comments )
Link Flag
Upgrade worked fine....
... on my Mac's and on my HP laptop masquerading as an Video
iPod. The bug apparently is not universal. But then, I don't buy my
music from the Itunes Store.
Posted by Earl Benser (4342 comments )
Link Flag
Mr. Chief Justice (presumably),
Aren't you going to be a little busy at the Supreme Court to worry
about iTunes? Surely, you can get some clerk to do it for you!
Posted by macFanDave_09 (8 comments )
Link Flag
Wait for the .1 release?
I let my non-essential machine get upgraded via Software Update. No problems, but then I don't use iTunes that often there (any version).

Maybe I'll wait for a .1 release of iTunes before upgrading from 4.9 on the main machine.

Real world experience?
Posted by pencoyd (82 comments )
Reply Link Flag
or maybe .2?
Luckily, I haven't upgraded either!
Posted by berniemcginn (25 comments )
Link Flag
Upgrade worked fine....
... on my Mac's and on my HP laptop masquerading as an Video
iPod. The bug apparently is not universal. But then, I don't buy my
music from the Itunes Store.
Posted by Earl Benser (4342 comments )
Link Flag
Mr. Chief Justice (presumably),
Aren't you going to be a little busy at the Supreme Court to worry
about iTunes? Surely, you can get some clerk to do it for you!
Posted by macFanDave_09 (8 comments )
Link Flag
The difference between Macs and Wintel..
Is that the Mac is easier for Apple, and users, to support because
Apple makes both the computer and the OS.

With Windows-on-Intel there are many numerous configurations
which is both a blessing, and a curse, in terms of supporting it.

I can't tell from the article, but the problems seem to be only on
the WinTel platform. I haven't had problems with my particular
Mac after updating.
Posted by technewsjunkie (1211 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Look at other vendors too
Mac users tend to have less problems throughout the software
upgrade processes. Sure, they aren't all perfect, but look at big
vendors that support Windows and OS X: Adobe, Intuit, etc.
There are way more problems with the Windows versions than
with the Mac versions. It's not just that Apple makes iTunes and
OS X that makes it less likely, although I would totally agree it
helps some.

Windows is just more problemsome to develop for. It's not all
Microsoft's fault either. It's just the million different
configurations that make it so. It's one of the advantages for
buying a Mac.
Posted by michaeljmac (29 comments )
Link Flag
MacTel Coming Soon...
And then WinTel and MacTel users are all complaining to Intel. How nice.
Posted by Jess McLean (61 comments )
Link Flag
The difference between Macs and Wintel..
Is that the Mac is easier for Apple, and users, to support because
Apple makes both the computer and the OS.

With Windows-on-Intel there are many numerous configurations
which is both a blessing, and a curse, in terms of supporting it.

I can't tell from the article, but the problems seem to be only on
the WinTel platform. I haven't had problems with my particular
Mac after updating.
Posted by technewsjunkie (1211 comments )
Reply Link Flag
MacTel Coming Soon...
And then WinTel and MacTel users are all complaining to Intel. How nice.
Posted by Jess McLean (61 comments )
Link Flag
Look at other vendors too
Mac users tend to have less problems throughout the software
upgrade processes. Sure, they aren't all perfect, but look at big
vendors that support Windows and OS X: Adobe, Intuit, etc.
There are way more problems with the Windows versions than
with the Mac versions. It's not just that Apple makes iTunes and
OS X that makes it less likely, although I would totally agree it
helps some.

Windows is just more problemsome to develop for. It's not all
Microsoft's fault either. It's just the million different
configurations that make it so. It's one of the advantages for
buying a Mac.
Posted by michaeljmac (29 comments )
Link Flag
MSWin security bandaids = NO iTunes for PCs?
Funny, that since Citizen Gates has publicly stated his distain for
iPods + iTunes to the point that MS-Drones on Jurassic Park
Campus are in fear of losing their jobs if they use their iPods at
work, plus numerous "security" Band-Aids have been downloaded
recently, that NOW the latest iTunes 5 for PCs isn't operable, but
the Mac version works just fine...

Coincidence?
Posted by Llib Setag (951 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Rush job by Apple...
Windows was there before iTunes 5, so Windows didn't do anything, it was the fault of Apple so don't blame Microsoft.
Posted by PCCRomeo (432 comments )
Link Flag
MSWin security bandaids = NO iTunes for PCs?
Funny, that since Citizen Gates has publicly stated his distain for
iPods + iTunes to the point that MS-Drones on Jurassic Park
Campus are in fear of losing their jobs if they use their iPods at
work, plus numerous "security" Band-Aids have been downloaded
recently, that NOW the latest iTunes 5 for PCs isn't operable, but
the Mac version works just fine...

Coincidence?
Posted by Llib Setag (951 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Rush job by Apple...
Windows was there before iTunes 5, so Windows didn't do anything, it was the fault of Apple so don't blame Microsoft.
Posted by PCCRomeo (432 comments )
Link Flag
iTunes works flawlessly for me...
And I installed hours after it was announced.

With any new software install, there can be a variety of third-party conflicts. This is as old as computers themselves, and shouldn't be news to Cnet, but somehow, they don't understand that.
Posted by M C (571 comments )
Reply Link Flag
iTunes works flawlessly for me...
And I installed hours after it was announced.

With any new software install, there can be a variety of third-party conflicts. This is as old as computers themselves, and shouldn't be news to Cnet, but somehow, they don't understand that.
Posted by M C (571 comments )
Reply Link Flag
All of them are solved. Check site in the message.
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@225.w4uUackbSLa" target="_newWindow">http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@225.w4uUackbSLa</a>.
0@.68b90c60
Posted by S R (85 comments )
Reply Link Flag
All of them are solved. Check site in the message.
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@225.w4uUackbSLa" target="_newWindow">http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?14@225.w4uUackbSLa</a>.
0@.68b90c60
Posted by S R (85 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Do more research...
"iTunes is a desktop computer program that comes with the iPod music player and allows people to transfer music to the device. It also represents Apple's first big foray into designing software that works with Microsoft Windows."

Apple's first big foray? Ever heard of Quicktime?
Do more research before you try to slam Apple for the minority of people's problems.

Why don't we go to the Microsoft discussion board and see how many people are complaining about problems with Windows? Hmmmm.
Posted by ThePimento (3 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Do More Research
So ture!
Posted by (4 comments )
Link Flag
FileMaker too...
Filemaker database software (once part of Apple, now a spin off
company) is Mac + Windows based.
Posted by Llib Setag (951 comments )
Link Flag
Do more research...
"iTunes is a desktop computer program that comes with the iPod music player and allows people to transfer music to the device. It also represents Apple's first big foray into designing software that works with Microsoft Windows."

Apple's first big foray? Ever heard of Quicktime?
Do more research before you try to slam Apple for the minority of people's problems.

Why don't we go to the Microsoft discussion board and see how many people are complaining about problems with Windows? Hmmmm.
Posted by ThePimento (3 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Do More Research
So ture!
Posted by (4 comments )
Link Flag
FileMaker too...
Filemaker database software (once part of Apple, now a spin off
company) is Mac + Windows based.
Posted by Llib Setag (951 comments )
Link Flag
Stick with iTunes 4.9
I loaded Apple iTunes into Tiger. The program works great
except for one little problem. When the problem came up I was
shocked being a hard core Apple user since 1984 and having
been on Tiger with a 17" powerbook and so on.....

The trouble is the audio quality in 5.0 sucks. Don't install it and
don't use it. I am in the syndicated radio business and I am
launching a film soundtrack company.

My ears are sensitive and I was in absolute shock when the
quality of the audio in 5.0 and the Equalizer that comes with it
do not work to the same fine standards as 4.9.

Now, the search function is awesome (a clone of spotlight) in
Tiger, but the audio sucks.

Now at first I thought it was the fact that I have a lot of non-
apple mp3's on my system. Then? I started playing to 200+
songs I have bought from the Apple store. Guess what? Sucky
sound!

Solution? Re-install 4.9! What to do: First this only works if you
have an external drive with Panther on it. If your external drive
has Tiger your messed up and it won't work. I re-booted my 17"
Powerbook, off the external drive in Panther, erased all of 5.0
and related files. Then I re-booted back into Tiger and (ta-da), I
am back to the 4.9 version. Now, my take is that Apple will fix
this problem in the next relase 5.1 or 5.2, and yeah I miss the
improved search engine, but you know us baby boomers. Right?
We gotta have our music and Todd Rundren, The Eagles and
Cold play have got to sound great! (Hope this helps anyone who
is stuck)! Good luck!
Posted by (2 comments )
Reply Link Flag
??WTF??
Sound quality sucks on 5.0 versus 4.9 ... me thinks someone does
not understand the difference between hardware and software.
Both versions use the SAME function calls, and process the audio
through the SAME drivers.

Obviously your settings have changed. ... Are people really
becoming so ignorant, and woefully dependent on personal hand-
holding, that they can no longer disseminate what software is
versus hardware?
Posted by Thomas, David (1937 comments )
Link Flag
Quicktime problem
The actual coding / decoding of the audio files is done by
Quicktime not iTunes. I'll bet when you installed iTunes 5 you
also installed Qt 7. There were some major revisions in the new
Qt and you may just not like how it decodes your mp3s. Try
removing Qt 7 and reinstalling Qt 6.x

good luck
Posted by emcourtney (32 comments )
Link Flag
Stick with iTunes 4.9
I loaded Apple iTunes into Tiger. The program works great
except for one little problem. When the problem came up I was
shocked being a hard core Apple user since 1984 and having
been on Tiger with a 17" powerbook and so on.....

The trouble is the audio quality in 5.0 sucks. Don't install it and
don't use it. I am in the syndicated radio business and I am
launching a film soundtrack company.

My ears are sensitive and I was in absolute shock when the
quality of the audio in 5.0 and the Equalizer that comes with it
do not work to the same fine standards as 4.9.

Now, the search function is awesome (a clone of spotlight) in
Tiger, but the audio sucks.

Now at first I thought it was the fact that I have a lot of non-
apple mp3's on my system. Then? I started playing to 200+
songs I have bought from the Apple store. Guess what? Sucky
sound!

Solution? Re-install 4.9! What to do: First this only works if you
have an external drive with Panther on it. If your external drive
has Tiger your messed up and it won't work. I re-booted my 17"
Powerbook, off the external drive in Panther, erased all of 5.0
and related files. Then I re-booted back into Tiger and (ta-da), I
am back to the 4.9 version. Now, my take is that Apple will fix
this problem in the next relase 5.1 or 5.2, and yeah I miss the
improved search engine, but you know us baby boomers. Right?
We gotta have our music and Todd Rundren, The Eagles and
Cold play have got to sound great! (Hope this helps anyone who
is stuck)! Good luck!
Posted by (2 comments )
Reply Link Flag
??WTF??
Sound quality sucks on 5.0 versus 4.9 ... me thinks someone does
not understand the difference between hardware and software.
Both versions use the SAME function calls, and process the audio
through the SAME drivers.

Obviously your settings have changed. ... Are people really
becoming so ignorant, and woefully dependent on personal hand-
holding, that they can no longer disseminate what software is
versus hardware?
Posted by Thomas, David (1937 comments )
Link Flag
Quicktime problem
The actual coding / decoding of the audio files is done by
Quicktime not iTunes. I'll bet when you installed iTunes 5 you
also installed Qt 7. There were some major revisions in the new
Qt and you may just not like how it decodes your mp3s. Try
removing Qt 7 and reinstalling Qt 6.x

good luck
Posted by emcourtney (32 comments )
Link Flag
iTunes 5.0 problems
I had been wondering what caused my iMac to go to hell. I'm
running 10.4 on a 400 mhz G3 iMac. Since installing iTunes 5.0,
iTunes, iPhoto, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Quicktime,
and ichat have stopped working. Sometimes they won't open at all,
other times they quickly crash. Apple needs to undo this mess
pronto.
Posted by shipoke (7 comments )
Reply Link Flag
iTunes 5.0 problems
I had been wondering what caused my iMac to go to hell. I'm
running 10.4 on a 400 mhz G3 iMac. Since installing iTunes 5.0,
iTunes, iPhoto, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Quicktime,
and ichat have stopped working. Sometimes they won't open at all,
other times they quickly crash. Apple needs to undo this mess
pronto.
Posted by shipoke (7 comments )
Reply Link Flag
iTunes 5
This is from Mac Daily News (MDN):

Behold the beauty of horizontal integration. Isn't having a range
of problems with the same piece of software on one PC  while
another PC works fine  an expected feature in the Windows
world? If not, the Windows software industry should be notified.
We'll keep our vertically integrated Apple Macs, thanks.

It is good to see Apple acknowledge the bugs and moving to
squash them quickly.

Also, iTunes was not Apple's first big foray into designing
software for Windows. Just because Steve Jobs marketed iTunes
for Windows as "hell freezing over," doesn't change the fact that
QuickTime was first by a large margin.

Copyright MDN acknowledged.
Posted by Macjammer (4 comments )
Reply Link Flag
iTunes 5
This is from Mac Daily News (MDN):

Behold the beauty of horizontal integration. Isn't having a range
of problems with the same piece of software on one PC  while
another PC works fine  an expected feature in the Windows
world? If not, the Windows software industry should be notified.
We'll keep our vertically integrated Apple Macs, thanks.

It is good to see Apple acknowledge the bugs and moving to
squash them quickly.

Also, iTunes was not Apple's first big foray into designing
software for Windows. Just because Steve Jobs marketed iTunes
for Windows as "hell freezing over," doesn't change the fact that
QuickTime was first by a large margin.

Copyright MDN acknowledged.
Posted by Macjammer (4 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Force to new version of Quicktime
iTunes 5 forces you to Quicktime 7. If you've just recently paid for the upgrade to Quicktime 6.x, you'll have to pay up again and go to 7 for the Pro features. There doesn't seem to be an iTunes 5 with QT 6.x.
Posted by newbrew (3 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Force to new version of Quicktime
iTunes 5 forces you to Quicktime 7. If you've just recently paid for the upgrade to Quicktime 6.x, you'll have to pay up again and go to 7 for the Pro features. There doesn't seem to be an iTunes 5 with QT 6.x.
Posted by newbrew (3 comments )
Reply Link Flag
What about QuickTime for Windows?
"[iTunes] represents Apple's first big foray into designing software that works with Microsoft Windows."

Is it that much bigger than the QuickTime Player for Windows which has been around for years? It doesn't seem so.

It's more like this is Apple's 2nd big foray into desining sofware that works with Microsoft Windows....
Posted by angrykeyboarder (137 comments )
Reply Link Flag
What about QuickTime for Windows?
"[iTunes] represents Apple's first big foray into designing software that works with Microsoft Windows."

Is it that much bigger than the QuickTime Player for Windows which has been around for years? It doesn't seem so.

It's more like this is Apple's 2nd big foray into desining sofware that works with Microsoft Windows....
Posted by angrykeyboarder (137 comments )
Reply Link Flag
Apple loves your money
but hates the responsibility to its customers that taking the money obligates them to.

Apple are the most arrogant company this side of Microsoft, not only do they charge huge amounts of money for mediocre products, but their customer support is nearly as bad as Dell's.

In typical Apple customer relations style, they'll probably sue the complaining users for releasing information about Apple products before they want the world to know about it, then stick their heads in the sand for a month or two, before finally just replacing the install for itunes with one that has replaced these problems with new ones.

Anyone who buys Apple products are suckers.. $250 for a walkman that can only play what you remembered to transfer to it, and can only play music from one download source - you guys are just so gullible it's almost funny.
Posted by ajbright (448 comments )
Reply Link Flag
man, uninformed...
it's free, free software. bugs happen, including weekly IE security
bugs fixes. you surely must be used to this type of thing by now.
it's part of different hardware, software, software versions - it
should be expected there'll be a few oddities. better that it can't be
installed than ruin all the data on your drive. maybe it's the
operating system, not the software. just wait until there are seven
different versions of Vista - then you'll have 7 different versions of
bugs.
Posted by superfunkomatic (14 comments )
Link Flag
Oh come on
Apple employees and Mr. Jobs do not need money, all right? Because they are just rich and arrogant and think they are the center of the universe. Oh, and they never admit they are wrong.
Posted by Jess McLean (61 comments )
Link Flag
MS would never be like that....
but hates the responsibility to its customers that taking the
money obligates them to.

Microsoft charges huge amounts of money for mediocre
products, but their customer support is nearly as bad as Dell's.


Anyone who buys Apple products are suckers.. $250 for a
walkman that can only play what you remembered to transfer to
it, and can only play music from one download source - you
guys are just so gullible it's almost funny.


Clearly written by someone who has NEVER used iTunes and an
iPod.

You deserve everything you get!
Posted by pabcsman (8 comments )
Link Flag
Apple loves your money
but hates the responsibility to its customers that taking the money obligates them to.

Apple are the most arrogant company this side of Microsoft, not only do they charge huge amounts of money for mediocre products, but their customer support is nearly as bad as Dell's.

In typical Apple customer relations style, they'll probably sue the complaining users for releasing information about Apple products before they want the world to know about it, then stick their heads in the sand for a month or two, before finally just replacing the install for itunes with one that has replaced these problems with new ones.

Anyone who buys Apple products are suckers.. $250 for a walkman that can only play what you remembered to transfer to it, and can only play music from one download source - you guys are just so gullible it's almost funny.
Posted by ajbright (448 comments )
Reply Link Flag
man, uninformed...
it's free, free software. bugs happen, including weekly IE security
bugs fixes. you surely must be used to this type of thing by now.
it's part of different hardware, software, software versions - it
should be expected there'll be a few oddities. better that it can't be
installed than ruin all the data on your drive. maybe it's the
operating system, not the software. just wait until there are seven
different versions of Vista - then you'll have 7 different versions of
bugs.
Posted by superfunkomatic (14 comments )
Link Flag
Oh come on
Apple employees and Mr. Jobs do not need money, all right? Because they are just rich and arrogant and think they are the center of the universe. Oh, and they never admit they are wrong.
Posted by Jess McLean (61 comments )
Link Flag
MS would never be like that....
but hates the responsibility to its customers that taking the
money obligates them to.

Microsoft charges huge amounts of money for mediocre
products, but their customer support is nearly as bad as Dell's.


Anyone who buys Apple products are suckers.. $250 for a
walkman that can only play what you remembered to transfer to
it, and can only play music from one download source - you
guys are just so gullible it's almost funny.


Clearly written by someone who has NEVER used iTunes and an
iPod.

You deserve everything you get!
Posted by pabcsman (8 comments )
Link Flag
is this even a story?
i'm not so sure this is news. maybe a little bit, but not worth the numerous replies to this story.

is it because it's simply Apple making a mistake? what if we did this everytime Microsoft goofed? we'd never get anything done, we be so busy reading and replying to endless articles like these.

spare me the "apple doesn't make mistakes, so this is news" line. i've heard it before. i use Macs all the time. they have problems-they're just have to do more with Apple's philosophy than they're coding skills. their software works fine, i just don't like the closed system9. good thing windows is easy to work with. haha! that was a joke, for all you who haven't used windows before)
Posted by Dibbs (158 comments )
Reply Link Flag
 

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