[Starry Night]

Aloha,

I currently have iTunes 3.01 which came with my PowerMac. I don't own an iPod and thus far have only used it to make custom CD's for the car. Lately I've become curious about the whole iTunes Music Store thing and have wanted to try it out. To do so will require that I upgrade to iTunes 4.6.

In reading the reviews at MacUpdate it appears that more recent versions of iTunes have placed more restrictions on what you can copy and burn to CD. At least that's how it appears based on the complaints. Thus here are two questions:

1) What such restrictions exist on iTunes 4.6 that didn't exist on iTunes 3? And how do those restrictions effect one's experience.

2) Can I download iTunes 4.6 and have the option of using my old iTunes 3.01 or iTunes 4.6, depending on what I'm doing? Or is it not easily possible to have different versions of iTunes at the same time?

Thanks!

[Stradlater]

The newest iTunes only has restrictions on music you download from the iTunes Music Store. Everything else should be the same.

[Edit:] The restrictions are no big deal, they've actually gotten to be less strict (you used to be able to authorize only 3 machines to play your music, now you can authorize 5). You can only burn a limited number of copies of the same playlist to a CD (which shouldn't be a problem, because you only need one playlist to be burned once). Oh, and if you need to burn another copy...just delete the playlist and make a new one that's identical.

[hyperb0le]

To my knowledge, the only restrictions that exist relate to the iTunes music store. The main restriction is that a playlist can only be burned a certain number of times (10?). Once you've reached the limit, just add or remove one song, and you're good to go. But I believe that only pertains to music purchased through the iTMS.

[Earth Mk. II]

The only restrictions iTunes imposes apply to music purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Any music you encode yourself is completely free of DRM. Any music you already have will continue to work as it had.

[Starry Night]

Originally posted by Earth Mk. II:
The only restrictions iTunes imposes apply to music purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Any music you encode yourself is completely free of DRM. Any music you already have will continue to work as it had.

Thanks all for the replies.

What about having two copies of iTunes just in case 4.6 gives me problems? 3.01 has been bug free for me...... If I download 4.6, will 3.01 be gone forever?

[wataru]

If you move the old version out of the way before updating, you will be able to keep it. Whether it will run after the update or not is another question, but my hunch is yes.

There really are no outstanding bugs in iTunes, stability-wise or other, that I've experienced or heard about. I think you'll find 4.6 to be just as good, if not better, than 3.0.1.

[hyperb0le]

If you back up the application in /Applications, then you should be able to copy it back to use it again later. If you do choose to revert, however, make sure you delete the preference files that iTunes 4.6 places on your computer, or else 3.0.1 might run kind of funky. But I see no technical reason that iTunes 3.0.1 wouldn't continue to function once 4.6 is installed (other than preference weirdness)

EDIT: Grr... Beaten to it again

[Starry Night]

Originally posted by hyperb0le:
If you back up the application in /Applications, then you should be able to copy it back to use it again later. If you do choose to revert, however, make sure you delete the preference files that iTunes 4.6 places on your computer, or else 3.0.1 might run kind of funky. But I see no technical reason that iTunes 3.0.1 wouldn't continue to function once 4.6 is installed (other than preference weirdness)

EDIT: Grr... Beaten to it again

Ok dokey, I'll burn a copy of iTunes 3.01 to CD (I'm backing up stuff anyway) and take the plunge!

Is deleting preference files difficult?

Should I go through Software Update to download or somewhere else, or does it matter?

[wataru]

You don't need to burn it to a CD. Just move it out of /Applications.

The preferences are stored in a file, ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iTunes.plist. Just throw it in the trash.

It doesn't matter how you install it, but Software Update is the easiest.

[Synotic]

Originally posted by Starry Night:
Ok dokey, I'll burn a copy of iTunes 3.01 to CD (I'm backing up stuff anyway) and take the plunge!

Is deleting preference files difficult?

Should I go through Software Update to download or somewhere else, or does it matter?

I don't really think it should be much of a plunge, it's just a new version, it'll be fine I bet you'll forget about iTunes 3 in no time.

It shouldn't be too hard to delete the preferences, it should be somewhere in /Library/Preferences/ probably called something like com.apple.itunes.plist but I'll let someone else give you the exact path.

Using Software Update and downloading it from the site should be the same.

[Starry Night]

Originally posted by Synotic:
I don't really think it should be much of a plunge, it's just a new version, it'll be fine I bet you'll forget about iTunes 3 in no time.

It shouldn't be too hard to delete the preferences, it should be somewhere in /Library/Preferences/ probably called something like com.apple.itunes.plist but I'll let someone else give you the exact path.

Using Software Update and downloading it from the site should be the same.

Oh, I'm chicken little when it comes to updating. I've read too many stories about people having problems hence I've taken the attitude, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Heck, I've stayed with 10.2.6, which came with my Mac, for a year now. Everything works so well, why change it?

I've backed up iTunes 3.01 to CD and will now try 4.6 -- the sky, the sky --

[Starry Night]

Ok, dowloaded iTunes 4.6 and everything went well. Haven't had a chance to use it yet though. The iTunes set-up assistant said I needed a more recent version of Quicktime. Mine was 6.1? and 6.5.1 is necessary for iTunes 4.6. Downloaded Quicktime via software update. Quicktime is asking for a registration #. Where do i get such a number? My old version of Quicktime is what came pre-installed on my PowerMac, I don't recall having a Quicktime reg. #. Or is it something that doesn't matter and I can ignore it?

Thanks again!

[RevEvs]

Ignore the registration, thats just for if you have Quicktime Pro.

[TheMosco]

Originally posted by Starry Night:
Ok, dowloaded iTunes 4.6 and everything went well. Haven't had a chance to use it yet though. The iTunes set-up assistant said I needed a more recent version of Quicktime. Mine was 6.1? and 6.5.1 is necessary for iTunes 4.6. Downloaded Quicktime via software update. Quicktime is asking for a registration #. Where do i get such a number? My old version of Quicktime is what came pre-installed on my PowerMac, I don't recall having a Quicktime reg. #. Or is it something that doesn't matter and I can ignore it?

Thanks again!

I guess your haven't run software update in a while?

[lenox]

Originally posted by Starry Night:
Oh, I'm chicken little when it comes to updating. I've read too many stories about people having problems hence I've taken the attitude, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

Heck, I've stayed with 10.2.6, which came with my Mac, for a year now. Everything works so well, why change it?

I've backed up iTunes 3.01 to CD and will now try 4.6 -- the sky, the sky --

Updating is GOOD

[Starry Night]

Originally posted by lenox:
Updating is GOOD

In theory I've spent enough time on boards like this to see that it can bring about problems. It's seems those who really know their stuff do fine, and neophytes can have problems. I figure I'm one of the later, hence I'm careful.

The iTunes 4.6 upgrade went fine. Repaired permissions before and after install, and it seems to work like a champ. Though having access to the iTunes Music Store is a DANGEROUS thing

[ShotgunEd]

Upgrading is good. New features, bug fixes, increased snappiness.

[lenox]

Yes, in rare cases, it can bring about problems. There's nothing wrong with being cautious - however, to still be plugging away at iTunes 3 at this point is crazy

[ShotgunEd]

Originally posted by lenox:
Yes, in rare cases, it can bring about problems. There's nothing wrong with being cautious - however, to still be plugging away at iTunes 3 at this point is crazy

You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't...