iTunes 7.5 Next Week?

AppleInsider is reporting both Windows and OS X will see simultaneous releases of iTunes 7.5 in hopes of correcting a number of bugs such as freezing when upgrading iTunes store songs to DRM free versions. We’re also supposed to see better management of duplicate songs and videos along with better stability.

There is no mention of other possible upgrades we might see to device support. I’m a little leery about the upgrade coming soon after the new iPhone Jailbreak. I won’t be upgrading to iTunes 7.5 anytime soon and I urge you to hold off as well even people without iPhones. Wait for the reviews to trickle out and I will try to keep you posted as to what I hear and decide to do in the near future. For now, keep whatever version you have unless you’re having issues to the point of using RealPlayer (do they still make that?)

So just wait a few days, listen to some music, hang out and be cool. Everything will be sorted out for you. If you want song duplication management, I recommend Dupin which is an AppleScript that works in conjunction with iTunes to find duplicate songs. Dupin is shareware, but the only feature lacking is the inability to see more than 20 results at a time. For Windows there is DoubleKiller. I’ve never used it but it looks like it works with more than iTunes so have at it.

People are a Talkin’

I’m basing this on one post, but it’s looking like people who pre-ordered Leopard WILL receive it on October 26th (please spare me the hate mail if I’m wrong because since I pre-ordered it, I will be equally as pissed). It looks as if that order is going to Hong Kong which explains why it shipped 3 days in advance and mine has “yet to be shipped” as its status. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. UPDATE: My status has been updated to “Prepared for Shipment.”

UPDATE 2: My shipping method has been updated to “Priority Overnite.” Glad I didn’t pay for next day shipping.

Early reviews are beginning to trickle in from developers and from an apparent Internet copy making its way around. The build being 9a581, although we’ll see what the version we get is. So what are we hearing? FAST!! Insanely fast in all areas. Programs are opening up in no time including mail. Time machine works instantly auto-detecting hard drives. Although what leads me to believe that this isn’t the final build is a comment about Finder hanging at first load. Although this could be related to hardware or fixed with a simple 10.5.1 update, I think it could be part of a bad setup file or it not being the final build of Leopard.

Tom Yager is calling this an “engineering achievement that dwarfs iPhone, iPod, Windows and Linux.” (I have an iPhone and it is definitely an engineering marvel, although the software needs to be hammered out). It also sounds like Mr. Yager is unable to fully disclose as much information as he would like until the official release, so he’s holding back. Yager has a great point when he compares the release and adoption of Vista as largely “incidental,” to being bundled with new computers whereas Leopard will see it’s primary adoption from OS X users going to the store or an online retailers seeking the upgrade, a level twice that of the release of Tiger and growing.

As I listen to MacBreak Weekly, the chaps are discussing what they are looking forward to the most. For me personally, there are things I look forward to to use all the time and a few things I am looking to try out. I will probably still never use iChat. I think AdiumX is the best out there even though it doesn’t have video chat which I don’t really need. Come my installation, I will finally begin using Apple Mail as my email client. (For anything I mention, check out the Apple site for more info, ot stayed tuned for my review in the coming days). Time Machine, oh lordy, Time Machine. I used system restore in Windows XP once and if it’s anywhere near the same in Vista, Apple has trounced the competitor. There is one thing I am eager to try, the new Automator.

Apple introduced Automator in Tiger. It is an application to make the system do chains of tasks automatically for you. I opened it a couple times, shrugged my shoulders and closed it. It’s difficult for me to tell a computer to do something the way a computer does it. With this new feature, you can turn Automator on, tell it to record, and it will follow what you’re doing until you tell it to stop such as opening a series of apps or working within an application like Photoshop or Pixelmator. I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of it. Of course, the worst part in all this would be if the install totally craps out, but I don’t expect that to happen.

Windows Releases vs Mac OS X Releases

I was perusing Apple news on a PC website. I can’t remember which one but it was a PC site writing an article about Leopard being released on October 26th. The article was the same as you’d expect from anyone making an OS announcement but what really got me was a lot of the comments slamming the OS X release. This will be the 6th installment of the OS X line, but many Windows users are seeing it more a service pack release than as a whole new operating system, where as 95, 98, ME, 2000, NT, XP, and Vista are all separate releases, so what qualifies as a new OS or a simple update?

In reality there really is no difference between a new Windows OS release and an OS X release. Each new release for both is an addition of applications or app tweaks, new visual enhancements and what the developers hope to be easier to use and serve the growing technology and hopefully influence future technology. The only time an entirely new OS available is where there is a total paradigm shift in how the operating system behaves like an entirely new experience.

With Apple, I can only go as far back as the switch from OS9 to OSX. Completely different operating system, with a whole new way of interacting with the OS, new design, an overall incompatibility with sporadic exceptions with the previous system. Microsoft too has done relatively the same thing: DOS to 3.1 to 95. Not a whole lot has changed since Windows 95 with the introduction of the task bar and easier access to your computer through the desktop and program files menu. Windows has changed, for better or worse (I’m looking at you Windows ME), visually and stability-wise since 95 but the core idea has remained the same. That goes for OS X as well with additions such as Expose, Widgets, Automator, Spotlight, Time Machine, Spaces, etc. But the paradigm hasn’t shifted since the release of the original OS X.

Both OS’s are offering the same type of “improvements” with each operating system. It’s just a matter of whether you like them or not and which OS you prefer. So if you think OS X Cat+1 with each round is merely a small upgrade, then you must accept Windows 95 and on is in only an upgrade, or you can think each new one is a new OS. It doesn’t really matter. I’m inclined to stick with the paradigm shift idea and that we’re merely seeing upgrades to both operating systems.

Upgrade or Fresh Install?

FRESH INSTALL!! With Leopard due out this Friday, a lot people are asking “Should I just upgrade or do a fresh install?” And no help to us all is the debate amongst bloggers and podcasters. Well, here I am to throw my opinion into the equation. (My answers goes for Windows users as well). I highly recommend and practice the art of doing a fresh install complete with hard drive reformat. Why? Well for a number of reasons.

When doing an upgrade, you have to make sure you computer is in perfect working order to be able to accept the update without it being clouded with all the crap that finds its way onto the hard drive. Over time, your hard drive will become fragmented and you will accumulate bloatware (especially you Windows users) over time through program additions. This is especially problematic for anyone that downloads torrents. Sure you will probably lose your visual settings and other preferences (unless you save the preference file) but those are extremely easy to revert to, and who knows, in the process you may find a different look you like more. Also, in my opinion it is MUCH easier to just save the files you want on an external drive of some sort and then just erase everything. For both Windows and Mac users, please make sure to save a copy of your documents folder. Most likely all of your most precious stuff is in that folder. Back up your music too. Even though you paid for it, Apple is very unlikely to give you another download of the music you bought from the iTunes store unless you have a pretty damn good reason, negligence not being one of then.

It is recommended with an upgrade to disable and additions you may have added to programs such as Firefox in case they don’t work right away with the new OS. Screw ‘em, and install them one at a time once you put Firefox back on. Everything works so much better once you’re at square one again for both Apple OS and Windows. In the end, your computer will thank you and serve you better if you reformat and do a fresh install of the OS.

With the new OS X, I was wondering if I would lose iLife that shipped with my computer. Apple doesn’t send you an install disc but only the restore DVD’s that have iLife on them. This can be done in 2 ways. One is do a fresh install of Tiger through the restore DVD’s and before anything is touched or changed by the user, do a fresh upgrade of Leopard. Even though this sounds like it goes against my teaching, it’s safe and works the same way. Everything will be in order. The other route is to begin with a fresh install of Leopard and then pull the iLife files from the restore discs. I’ve done this one before when I went from Panther to Tiger and it works just with a little digging around. For this install, I will be doing a fresh install of Leopard and then rooting around in my restore discs for iLife. I might even say “screw it” and buy iLife ‘08.

I’m eager to hear how everyone else’s installs of OS X go and anyone that might be going from XP to Vista or from Vista back to XP which seems to be happening quite often. I would also love to hear from people who upgraded to the latest Ubuntu Gutsy Ribbon from Feisty Fawn. Oh to be a computer lover, these are fun times.