iTunes: Laggy piece of software

What am i gonna do without iTunes..my iPod will be useless.

But yet it is the laggiest software i have EVER come across in my life.. even Crysis is more effecient on GPU than iTunes is on Windows platform. (bad metaphor).

Every week they keep releasing new versions.

first of all.

1. An update of iTunes takes around 30 mins..including the Quicktime update.

2. Update doesnt improve anything but only improves the Lag.. which means even click on a podcast takes 30 seconds to process.

3. Deleting a file is such a big deal..

4. Takes 20 seconds just for it to load & the window is blank.. u have to maximize & minimize it 3 times for it to load properly.

5. Watching videos... haha ..this is the biggest joke... Audio starts playing..but only 1 min into it the video comes up.




Solution? any solution? ... will using an old old version be faster? because i dont own iPhone..hence i dont need the new features .

 

I agree it is a peice of crap but 20 seconds to load... what the hell? takes a few seconds maybe 2 - 3 to load for me, i only use it for my ipod aswell would never use it day to day!

 

I know in Linux you can do this...using a different media player like Amarok or something. It could sync with your iPod as well I believe, but then you couldn't buy music off of iTunes obviously. For windows, I have no idea.

 

I only use iTunes for my iPod. Unless you need iTunes Store, I suggest you change to other music player like foobar2000.

I think I also need 20 secs if not more to load iTunes.

Another thing that I hate about iTunes is that it comes with Apple Software Updater + QuickTime. I hate hate hate HATE that, especially if you are not careful, ASU will make you download other Apple software like Safari.

BTW if you want to try, you can use YamiPod or WinAmp or foobar2000 iPod plugin to manage your iPod.

 

How about some alternatives then, iPod isn't an iTunes Exclusive... (except for the *****y DRM then)

- Songbird (can sync with iPod through extension, open source, can't rip CDs)
- Winamp (the mother of all media players, free version with MP3 encoding)
- NOT WMP11 as it doesn't sync iPods
- let's repeat Winamp for good fortune and it sounds good too!

 

i have a mac and even i seriously dislike the fact that they ship itunes with the autoupdater (forced install of quicktime and nagging of safari)

i don't want quicktime or safari on my windows install...

i also say songbird. its based on the mozilla platform (and has a bunch of cool features)

 

I ONLY use iTunes to play mp3s. They should have the option to let user choose what to install. I really don't need those craps like Bonjour, Apple Software Update, Mobile Device Support.. At least the latest version(7.7.0.43) has fixed the blank window for me, and it starts much faster now.

 

If you use iTunes for mp3s only, why bother with the program at all? If I were you, I use other mp3 players like foobar2000, MediaMonkey or SongBird.

 

I concur. I wanted to do some development for the iPhone and so I installed iTunes on my Vista laptop to check out the App Store. I have to say iTunes is not very slim.

 

It's funny that you would mention this. Just yesterday, my roommate was complaining about how iTunes always slows down his computer when it's open. I have never bothered downloading that crap. Actually, I'm still using WMP. It has not been bad at all, and I've had no inclination to download any other software.

 

well its a great advice to try other programs..but i need some more info. then.

when u guys use winamp for iPod music ..can u also manage the podcasts?

because i use podcasts.

 

Yea Itunes is horrible, even more so with that ****ing quicktime player....It has got to be the most handicapped pos I have ever used besides real player....I dont see why they cant let you decide.
Im happy I have a COWON D2 and thus dont need to mess with software, just drag and drop and comes with a no install required podcast thing to get your podcasts up and running (from within the devices directory)

As for you I would suggest mediamonkey (no podcast support). Mypodder (small app for podcasts only which you can extract on your ipod drive and use it from there whenever you want.

 

MediaMonkey supposedly can sync with iPod. I don't own an iPod though, so I haven't tried it myself.

And I definitely wouldn't use iTunes just to play mp3... there are plenty of much less bloated programs you can use for that.

 

And i'm happy I have a Cowon Q5W The W stands for Wireless. 60GB Version.

Anyhow..iTunes is very slow I find as well...it does take some time to startup..use to take like 10 secs for me...and those updates like every week are truly ridiculous. They are mad huge and takes forever to install...but other than those two major complaints I think it's a very good program..I find the equalizer is very precise and the music plays clearer than WMP. I do like it much better than WMP overall but I don't use it anymore...I have no need for it...my PMP is doing the job that iTunes use to do.

 

iTunes is bloated on the Windows side...but yours seems awfully ridiculous! Watching video takes a minute for the video to come up? Hmm...is it iTunes in particular? Do you get the same issues from say WMP?

 

Love the COWON D2 and Im sure the Q5W is just as amazing when it comes to sound quality. Just got a porta pro along with yuin pk2 and...just wow.

OP, seriously give mypodder a shot, extract to your mp3 drive and use it from there.

 

Ok cool..I use a pair of Motorola T820 BT Headphones...don't like wires And yes the sound is great!

 

Does anyone have a guide for setting up foobar2000 to work with iPods? I've already "edited" songs i've bought off iTunes so they'll play in non-authorized software.

 

Can I seriously suggest MediaMonkey to you guys?
Just ensure you activate the removable storgae aspect to your iPod through iTunes then nuke it.
Did you know iTunes runs in the background constantly? It also runs an app solely dedicated to scanning for iPods 24/7 - unless it's changed since I nuked it anyway.

Media Monkey is awesome, I've been using it for years and it has no problems with tens of thousands of tracks.

 

I use a program called 'YamiPod.' It is by no means perfect but it is a VERY small application and it gets the job done.

I'm told that you can use Winamp too, but even Winamp is a little bloated for me. I think there is a foobar extension for ipods, too. I keep Winamp on my computer only so I can access its visualizations thru foobar.

 

I like its interface Haven't tried SongBird before, but it looks cool

 

I also prefer itunes' interface over all the others I've tried. I've also had zero problems with it and the memory usage isn't that bad. True, it's a pain that it installs all that junk, but I just uninstall the junk after installing a new version of itunes.

Since I saw so many people recommend Songbird, I tried it. People complain about itunes' memory usage, but Songbird used a little over 2x as much. Memory usage for itunes is around ~47,000 and Songbird was ~110,000.

 

Yeah, that's what I do too

110K !? Thanks for the warning

 

Agree with the MediaMonkey recommendations. It handles podcasts just fine too.

 

I am with jin07 about iTune's UI, its easy to use and works. iTunes works fine on my Pentium M notebook, updates downloads pretty quickly too. The only thing I have against it was its CPU usage, which to be honest had I been using a dual core CPU would not have mattered.

 

I just downloaded the latest version of iTunes (its been a while), and now whenever I plug my iPod in, iTunes just freezes. Maybe I need to be more patient since its been a while since my iPod has been updated.

 

On the main page I was like, whaaaaa????

iTunes is a Laggy piece of.....

Yeah, it is slow, but hey, its the only thing to transfer your songs to your iPod, so no choice there.

 

lolz @ the title.. hehee

I recently transferred all the songs from my ipod to the pc using iDump

I ordered a generic mp3/4 (ipod shuffle fake) off ebay (made in china)
and will be more than happy to use the player as a usb stick and transfer
songs without any software to deal with.

 

i just timed how long it takes for itunes to open on my vista laptop...15.66 seconds! unacceptable!!! ive tried to use mediamonkey but it would just freeze when i tried to open it. winamp works for me but i havent quite figured out how to use it with my ipod even after reading and following a guide found here. any tips?

 

No it isn`t the only choice. I`ve used mediamonkey to sync my iPod with no problems..much snappier than iTunes i find.
To the above poster, there`s a warning in an earlier post about having iTunes processes and running MM at the same time - basically they don`t play well with each other.

 

Wow...that performance is nothing at all like what I have. iTunes opens in 5-6 seconds on the first load, and 1-2 seconds on subsequent loads on my desktop, and 8-10/2-3 seconds, respectively, on my ThinkPad. I never have any problems with blank screens or lagginess, and it doesn't impact perofrmance in games at all on either system to have iTunes running in the background. I use it because a) I have and iPod and I'm too lazy to fool with getting it to sync with something else, and b) iTunes has unparalleled library management, in my opinion. Nothing else comes close - for one, many programs (I'm looking at you, Songbird and MediaMonkey!) have the VERY irritating habit of grouping all "The" artists together under T. And WMP is no alternative - you want to talk about buggy, laggy software...

 

Yeah... iTunes works well for me too with my Celeron M. I'm pretty happy with it. Although it is bloated enough that I won't use it if only listening to one song.

I thought your notebook died Johnny T? Or did it truely turn out to be an illusion?

 

Yes my notebook did die, I was just talking about it before it dead, now stop reminding me of its death. :cry: I am on a P4 celeron notebook at the moment.

 

If you like iTunes interface, you can make foobar2000 to look like iTunes by using PanelsUI.

 

Last time I tried Foobar, it messed up all the tags

 

i can't stand itunes
i use winamp

 

Yes which is why I hate iTunes. It makes me not want to buy an iPod...

 

^ That and the fact that they're overpriced.
My SE k800i + 4gig M2 Micro came to €20 less than a 4gig iPod.
The fact that it is a really good phone and has a 3.2 mpx camera with a xenon flash just makes it cheaper.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it works with MediaMonkey too!

 

iTunes is coming nowhere near my computer.

 

^ I will never buy another Apple product after my iPod - it just works? My arse it does. Their customer support is dreadful, as are their marketing schemes.