• On CBSSports.com: Shaq, Justin Bieber have dance-off
advertisement
September 7, 2005 11:00 AM PDT

Apple introduces iTunes 5: New search bar; new shuffle features; more

by CNET staff

Apple has announced iTunes 5, the latest release of its music playing, purchasing and podcasting software.

The new release includes a new Search Bar; the ability to organize playlists into folders; Smart Shuffle, which lets the user change the "randomness" of shuffled songs; and the ability for Windows users to automatically sync contacts and calendars from Outlook onto their iPods. The iTunes Music Store has also added parental controls and album reviews, and now features a catalog of over two million songs.

iTunes 5 for Mac is available for immediate standalone download, and through Software Update.

Problems with the new release? Please let us know.

Resources

  • immediate standalone download
  • let us know
  • More from Late-Breakers
    • Topics:

    News,

    Troubleshooting

    Tags:

    Late-Breakers

    Recent posts from MacFixIt
    iTunes 10 user interface sees some minor changes
    Apple seeds iOS 4.1 Gold Master to developers
    Possible fix for Harman Kardon iSub problems with PowerPC Macs
    Precautions to take before installing iTunes 10
    A reminder on how to reset your Mac's system password
    Mail messages appearing blank
    Adobe Lightroom update brings direct Facebook publishing; Camera Raw 6.2 released
    Weekly troubleshooting utilities update
    Add a Comment (Log in or register) Showing 1 of 2 pages (24 Comments)
    by waanid September 7, 2005 2:11 PM PDT
    During installation there's a message that clearly refers to the use of a phone
    with iTunes. I forgot the exact words though.

    Rob Hogendoorn
    Netherlands
    Reply to this comment
    by MarkSealey September 7, 2005 2:11 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by waanid</i></div></class><br />
    Installing Phone drivers?

    My installation went through perfectly - though it was slower at that point.

    A QuickTime update today too....
    Reply to this comment
    by zozot September 7, 2005 4:34 PM PDT
    It seems that sharing music is broken in iTunes 5.
    The shared music doesn't appear anymore on the other computer. If you go
    back to iTunes 4.9 then it works again.
    Reply to this comment
    by sluastro September 7, 2005 4:34 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by zozot</i></div></class><br />
    Sharing works fine between my two computers (1GHz 17" iMac, 1.5GHz
    Powerbook, both with iTunes 5, 10.4.2, etc.). I'd check your firewall settings to
    make sure "iTunes Music Sharing" is checked.
    Reply to this comment
    by September 7, 2005 4:34 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by zozot</i></div></class><br />
    I just read over on the Apple discussion boards:

    Make sure you have enabled (checked) the Show:Radio in the General Prefs in
    iTunes....

    Fixed it for me...dumb bug, simple fix.
    Reply to this comment
    by efriedman September 7, 2005 4:34 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by bbbobbb--2008</i></div></class><br />
    yep, thanks for the advice. that's one of the dumbest fixes I've ever come
    across. but at least there IS a fix. thanks bobb3
    Reply to this comment
    by Rhett Sutphin September 7, 2005 4:57 PM PDT
    <p>I had one issue while installing iTunes 5: the installer insisted that I needed to quit iTunes before it could proceed. However, iTunes wasn't running.</p><p>I use <a href="http://yellowmug.com/sk4it/">SizzlingKeys for Mac OS X</a> to give me global iTunes hotkeys. It turned out that it was the culprit. Stopping it (from its prefpane) allowed the install to complete.</p><p>When I started it back up afterward, SK still worked fine.</p>
    Reply to this comment
    by rice.ingenue September 7, 2005 4:57 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by Rhett Sutphin</i></div></class><br />
    thank god for your post. i thought my brand new imac was dying on me!
    Reply to this comment
    by bobs4_dotmac September 7, 2005 5:40 PM PDT
    Everything works fine for me.
    Reply to this comment
    by Wooden Brain September 7, 2005 5:50 PM PDT
    I would be very cautious about this upgrade, back everything up.

    I posted this in the apple discussio forums.

    ...

    i'm tired of badly thought out updates. in 5 mins i've learened 3 things:

    1. i lost my podcast subscriptions; old podcasts merged into libraries

    2. date added lost, smart playlists based on dates toast.. i have playlists
    based on date added and now all date added is Sept 7, so all smart playlists
    are messed up

    3. custom columns are gone. i never cared about ratings and do care about
    track number. have to reset all playlists.

    4. worried about what scripts will be broken with the change in terms of
    being able to group playlists by folder. it looks from a quick glance at doug's
    script site that these folders are also called playlists. i can already imagine the
    problems.

    and i haven't even begun to poke around yet.

    i'm downgrading until bugs get worked out.
    Reply to this comment
    by slboettcher September 7, 2005 5:50 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by Wooden Brain</i></div></class><br />
    Happy to say I've seen none of your issues...

    SB
    Reply to this comment
    by David Dixon--2008 September 7, 2005 5:50 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by Wooden Brain</i></div></class><br />
    I too have playlists based on date added; fortunately I have not experienced
    your issues.

    One thing I have found is that converting an mp3 to aac takes much longer in
    5.0
    Reply to this comment
    by cpatch September 7, 2005 5:50 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by Wooden Brain</i></div></class><br />
    I have a fairly large library with quite a few playlists, several smart playlists with
    some date based, and a dozen or so podcast subscriptions (most of my
    podcasts are in iPodderX). I had no problems with the upgrade. I've heard from
    friends, however, who have had problems ranging from losing their podcast
    subscriptions to losing their playlists so there are obviously problems.
    Reply to this comment
    by ncsdo September 7, 2005 5:50 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by Wooden Brain</i></div></class><br />
    I agree, after the update all my podcasts are now merged with my library. Is this
    a feature or a bug? I would love to see the podcasts back into its own location.
    Reply to this comment
    by kiancheong September 7, 2005 5:51 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by ncsdo</i></div></class><br />
    My podcasts are in my library too! Very annoying!
    Reply to this comment
    by leandro_dotmac September 7, 2005 7:42 PM PDT
    whats the the hype with the search bar, am I missing something here, but hasn't
    that always been part of itunes as well as the browse option.
    Reply to this comment
    by fotogra September 7, 2005 7:48 PM PDT
    Could not install. The installer insisted that I needed to quit iTunes before it could proceed. However, iTunes wasn't running. Error message repeatly prevented me from doing anything on the computer till I logged out.
    I won't proceed until this is cleared up.
    I don't share music nor do I purchase so I have a real simple itunes library.Never had any problems before and 4.9 works fine for me.
    Reply to this comment
    by George Pytlik September 7, 2005 10:56 PM PDT
    It seems that several people are encountering problems with iTunes 5 and
    QuickTime 7.0.2. I experienced exactly the same problem.

    I installed iTunes 5 and it ran fine. Later in the day I updated QT to 7.0.2. Now
    iTunes 5 fails to launch, presenting the error message "Cannot launch iTunes.
    Not enough memory available." I checked the activity monitor and found that I
    still have 1.5GB of free RAM available on my DP2.0 running Tiger 10.4.2 with
    2GB RAM. I rebooted and there was no change, iTunes fails to launch. Removed
    preference files, no change. After checking a few boards I found that others
    were experiencing the same problem. I went back to 4.9 and it runs fine (but
    darn it, I really liked the changes in 5!)
    Reply to this comment
    by wagenseller September 7, 2005 10:56 PM PDT
    <class="merchant"><span>&#62;</span><div class="datestamp"><i>This is a reply to a previous comment by George Pytlik</i></div></class><br />
    You might try opening up Activity Monitor in Utilities and stopping the process
    of that nasty little iTunes Helper app that runs in the background. It's caused
    trouble on other upgrades -- might be doing it on this one.

    --S. Wagenseller
    Honolulu
    Reply to this comment
    by MacFixItUser September 8, 2005 1:08 AM PDT
    Can you resume where you left last time? That is convenient when listening a
    long playlist on the Mac and you quit iTunes, reboot or shut down the Mac and
    then want to resume where you left.
    Reply to this comment
    Showing 1 of 2 pages (24 Comments)
    Reviews & advice
    Site map
    Editorial policies
    Meet the editors
    How we test
    Forums
    Internet speed test
    Popular topics
    Apple iPhone
    Apple iPod
    Cell phones
    CES 2010
    GPS
    LCD TV
    CNET sites
    CNET Site map
    Video
    Downloads
    News
    Reviews
    Shopper.com
    More information
    Newsletters
    CNET Mobile
    CNET Widgets
    Customer Help Center
    RSS
    CNET API
    About CNET
    sponsored