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OperaMan · Sep 7, 2005, 02:39 PM

I just donwloaded and and I'm surprised. It doesn't match the normal GUI at all. Maybe it's just the first of many changes to the iApps and an idea what 10.5 will look like.

mdc · Sep 7, 2005, 02:40 PM

could you please upload a few screenshots (http://imageshack.us is free) for all us poor people sitting at work, unable to download it yet.

thanks

Goldfinger · Sep 7, 2005, 02:45 PM

I agree, it feels pretty weird compared to the rest of the OS.

TETENAL · Sep 7, 2005, 02:51 PM

I think it's not that bad below the toolbar. The toolbar itself would be an improvement if it would have been in the lighter gray of Tiger's standard combined titlebar/toolbar look and not so "squared".

Kenneth · 12:55 PM

I like it..

itunes5.png
(1008x708 pixels)

mdc · Sep 7, 2005, 02:55 PM

i like it a lot.

i hope this becomes the new brushed metal for all new apps (leopard brushed metal?) and unified becomes the new regular.

ccrider · Sep 7, 2005, 02:56 PM

Here's where you can see a screenshot:
iTunes

I agree about the new look- kinda ugly BUT it takes up less vertical room now. Also i like how the volume is now to the right of the controls, and the subfolders and random function is nice.

iTunes now supports lyrics embedded within songs. Got this when I went to the help viewer:

Entering and viewing lyrics

If you know the words to a song, you can enter them in iTunes and view them anytime.

1. Select a song and choose File > Get Info.

2. Click Lyrics and enter the words to the song.

To view lyrics you've already entered, select the song and choose File > Get Info, then click Lyrics.

With some iPod models, you can view a song's lyrics on iPod if you've entered them in iTunes. Make sure your iPod has been updated with the latest software. See the documentation that came with your iPod for more information.

Some types of files, such as WAV and QuickTime files, don't support lyrics.

rickey939 · Sep 7, 2005, 03:09 PM

I absolutely 100% love it.

chabig · Sep 7, 2005, 03:14 PM

Support for lyrics in iTunes and on the iPod is nice, but on a Mac it's a lot easier to use a lyric widget. I like Pear Lyrics.

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Sep 7, 2005, 03:15 PM

It's crap. Do we need yet another damned window style? The gradient doesn't match the Tiger unified toolbar and the corners are an abomination.

porieux · 07:37 AM

...

Stradlater · Sep 7, 2005, 03:37 PM

I'm not a fan of the sharp edges, but the rest will probably grow on me.

Hodog16 · Sep 7, 2005, 04:34 PM

Suits me fine, I like the larger window for the time bar, etc.

Lots of changes today. Updates for itunes, Madonna's catalog on itunes, and the new Nano's.

thunderous_funker · Sep 7, 2005, 04:38 PM

In and of itself it isn't bad. It just clashes with the brushed metal of everything else. Oh well, its usually a hidden window anyway...

Krypton · Sep 7, 2005, 04:43 PM

I didn't like it initially, but it's growing on me; the very minimal look in the sidebar (like Mail) is fantastic

yukon · Sep 7, 2005, 04:45 PM

It is angular, seems almost monochromatic, the buttons look somehow blurry. I don't like that. But I like the new look, it's cleaner, less bloated....looks very modern, brushed metal was very 80's, this is more 90's "what the future will be like". I'd like it more if I thought it was part of the OS, rather than a sort of skin on iTunes.

Adam Betts · Sep 7, 2005, 04:50 PM

"Is it Cocoa yet?"

Nope, still carbon

kilechki · Sep 7, 2005, 04:54 PM

I find this to be soooo ugly.... Dashboard-style out of the zoo.
The mini player is really a piece of monstruosity. It seems incredibly out of place with the rest of the system.
Is there still anyone in charge of design consistency at apple? It doesn't look like so... It is all the more terrifying that iTunes first introduced brushed metal, later to be used system wide. Poor Finder is gonna be even dirtier...

My main grief, however, is that iTunes seems to have become very slow. Scrolling through my library is jerky, as is the opening of most controls. And still the same visual effects after 5 years... Come on Apple! This is supposed to be your flagship app!

 · Sep 7, 2005, 05:04 PM

I *really* hope Apple moves all metal over to this look. This is so much better than the current abominations known as metal windows.

yukon · Sep 7, 2005, 05:26 PM

Exactly. It's new, and it's different. It's inconsistent, but it's better than the previous look. This shouldn't be a skin for iTunes, but part of OS X. It's similar to Mail.app now, but now they both look out of place.

headbirth · Sep 7, 2005, 05:37 PM

I like the cleaner look, but what's up with Apple's UI developers? Doesn't anyone oversee them for consistencey?

If they're going to change the UI this often why not just open it up to themers.

TETENAL · Sep 7, 2005, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by kilechki

It is all the more terrifying that iTunes first introduced brushed metal, later to be used system wide.

QuickTime Player first introduced brushed metal.

P · Sep 7, 2005, 05:50 PM

It's flat brushed metal - looks a bit more like Aqua, so maybe it's a better fit with the rest of the OS for general apps. Look at it next to Mail - they look more related now.

It's the wrong app to try it in, though. iTunes is one of the few apps that really work in the metal style. They can go do it to Safari any time though - not to mention the Finder.

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Sep 7, 2005, 05:53 PM

Originally Posted by P

It's flat brushed metal - looks a bit more like Aqua, so maybe it's a better fit with the rest of the OS for general apps. Look at it next to Mail - they look more related now.

It's the wrong app to try it in, though. iTunes is one of the few apps that really work in the metal style. They can go do it to Safari any time though - not to mention the Finder.

That's cool, so long as the abomination they did to the corners is fixed.

mdc · Sep 7, 2005, 05:53 PM

can someone screenshot the zoomed mini controller please.

TETENAL · Sep 7, 2005, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by mdc

can someone screenshot the zoomed mini controller please.

lenox · Sep 7, 2005, 06:33 PM

I understand what they were trying to do...but why screw with the corners? It sticks out terribly now.

TETENAL · Sep 7, 2005, 06:41 PM

The visualizer looks much cooler now in the borderless window. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be updated in any way and still stretches album art in fullscreen mode on a Cinema Display.

step · Sep 7, 2005, 06:45 PM

hmmm..it's not perfect, but i like it alot..i'd prefere it if the gray had matched the mail app but what the hey,
it's the first itunes that i HAVEN'T wanted to skin

OAW · Sep 7, 2005, 06:53 PM

Overall I like the new look in iTunes 5. I was a little dismayed to see the rounded display go ... I thought that was a very nice touch, but it's ok because it seems that we have a bit more space now. I don't understand the point of the making the corners noticeably sharper than other windows in the OS. It just doesn't seem to add any value and only serves to be YAI (yet another inconsistency). I'm not crazy about the pale blue source list but for some reason I like it better here than in the new Mail. Other than that, I like the new "brushless" metal look.

OAW

Weyland-Yutani · Sep 7, 2005, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by P

It's flat brushed metal - looks a bit more like Aqua, so maybe it's a better fit with the rest of the OS for general apps. Look at it next to Mail - they look more related now.

It's the wrong app to try it in, though. iTunes is one of the few apps that really work in the metal style. They can go do it to Safari any time though - not to mention the Finder.

Agreed. It is a bit darker shade of grey than you find in the Mail.app but similar. Being a bastard carbon app with a completely custom interface, I'm sure the iTunes team just couldn't help themselves

Seriously, it is ok. It is good. It is a mix between brushed metal and the Mail.app look. It works. I just hope Apple is moving towards a consistent layout scheme for *all* apps.

cheers

W-Y

Xiaopangzi · Sep 7, 2005, 08:48 PM

iTunes 5 and Apple Mail 2.0.3 look much better than the rest of the Mac GUI, and I hope that these apps reflect what form the OS and iApps will take in the near future. I hated the brushed metal appearance ever since it was first introduced (in Safari, I think) but have become accustomed to it in recent months. Now, iTunes 5 is an infinite improvement.

For everyone complaining about the lack of unity, just install Iridium 2.6.2 with Smooth Tunes 1.1 from SageFire.org, and you'll have a completely unified GUI across the entire system, including third-party apps. You can have a lighter nonbrushed Iridium or Paladium appearance or a nice iTunes 5-like Chromium theme throughout your system. The MS Word find-and-replace panel is the only thing that looks messed up, but that's Microsoft's fault.

I agree that the iTunes 5 corners are too sharp, and iTunes 4 too round. That may be picky, but it's my impression. I dislike how the window still does not cover the entire space (not possible to drag the lower-right corner completely to the side edge).

villalobos · Sep 7, 2005, 08:51 PM

I can't wait to see brushed metal die. Can't wait. This iTunes looks much better, although the corners are indeed a bit 'rough'.

as2 · Sep 7, 2005, 08:54 PM

I like the new UI, looks kinda spangly (technical term honest!)

I also like the new subfolders - For example, I've got a subfolder for my Fatboy Slim albums.

I can either expand the subfolder and choose a playlist, or I can click on the folder and browse it like I would the library. I can see this feature being useful for different genre's of music, or collections.

For example a DJ who has lots of singles that they use for mixing could drop them all into a folder, and then search/browse much quicker.

Also, the whole search/browse feature seems to be much more Spotlight esque - in fact, that's what the new GUI seems to be most similar to. Apart from the harsh corners, and the fact that it maintains it's 'plasticy' appearance in the background, it seems very similar to the spotlight bar and box.

Adam

rjenkinson · Sep 7, 2005, 09:38 PM

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunes.html

-r.

Xiaopangzi · Sep 7, 2005, 09:48 PM

I wish that "Composers" and possibly "Description" and "Comments" were also options for Search rather than letting All try to cover those. When you have a library as big as mine and are searching for music by the same composer but different artists, Composer would be helpful as a search filter option.

kcmac · Sep 7, 2005, 09:50 PM

I like it. I want to see more apps take this exact approach.

cc_foo · Sep 7, 2005, 10:23 PM

I like it better than the old brushed metal. I didn’t even notice the corners until someone mentioned it. And even then, the corners don’t bother me.

My main gripe is that any inactive brushed window in in the background looks really similar to any other brushed window in the foreground. But that’s always been the case.

Salty · Sep 7, 2005, 10:31 PM

I just wish there were some good way to automatically look up and add the lyrics to your songs. I love knowing the lyrics to my music but... I don't want to add lyrics into almost 2 000 songs!

Anyway though, I like this, especially the improved navigation options for the iTMS!

I love the new look over the old one, and look forward to the rest of the iLife apps following suite.

nforcer · Sep 7, 2005, 10:56 PM

This new interface looks like "Unifed Metal" the metal version of the Unifed interface introduced in 10.4 and visible in Mail, Xcode, and some other apps.

Nai no Kami · Sep 8, 2005, 12:38 AM

Maybe the new corner thing was because iTunes doesn't have them (at least properly) antialiased?.
I like the new design, although I must I didn't like when they changed the button look. Now that I look at those... they were fugly.

Scandalous Ion Cannon · Sep 8, 2005, 12:43 AM

I think it is much better, I hope all future metal looks like iTunes and mail. Especially Safari.

chabig · Sep 8, 2005, 01:21 AM

Does anyone know what the snapback icon on the right side of the LCD display do? I can't figure it out.

Chris

legacyb4 · Sep 8, 2005, 01:25 AM

Noticed something weird though. Click on any of the option slider (less likely, more likely) and while holding the mouse button down, move your mouse either up or down past the limits of the slider.

PurpleGiant · Sep 8, 2005, 01:33 AM

Originally Posted by chabig

Does anyone know what the snapback icon on the right side of the LCD display do? I can't figure it out.

Chris

It will jump to the currently playing song in the list, and highlight it.

porieux · 07:37 AM

...

webcookie · Sep 8, 2005, 04:43 AM

I love the new look. I use Smooth Stripes square so the new squarer iTunes is great for me. The new mini player is so sexy that I don't have to use Konfabulator anymore. It sure does look a lot like Mail, but that was one of the first things that caught my eye in Tiger. iTunes is overall just sexier now and that makes me happy.

Silky Voice of The Gorn · Sep 8, 2005, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by legacyb4

Noticed something weird though. Click on any of the option slider (less likely, more likely) and while holding the mouse button down, move your mouse either up or down past the limits of the slider.

Jesus christ, add that to the list. A slider is supposed to drag live, not translucent like that.

Geobunny · Sep 8, 2005, 08:57 AM

What I want to know is why Apple suddenly have a fascination with putting a horizontal line straight through things, ie 10.4 menu bar and the readout display in the iTunes 5. Gratuitous and fugly!

On top of that, in the zoomed/mini iToons state, the three wee window widgets aren't centred vertically and there's also a considerable lag when you mouse over them before they go on/off.

legacyb4 · Sep 8, 2005, 09:26 AM

Agreed, especially when sliders in other parts of the system drag live; now I have to think and try to remember if iTunes 4.x was dragging live or not?

Originally Posted by Silky Voice of The Gorn

Jesus christ, add that to the list. A slider is supposed to drag live, not translucent like that.