Phenquestions
iTunes, the media experience for MacBook, is finally available to all Windows 10 users through the Microsoft Store. iTunes was always available for Windows 10 as iTunes for Windows desktop software, but now it is available as a UWP app as well. iTunes on Windows 10 Store is nothing but a ported version of the desktop software which used to come with a lot of support software & offers, i.e., USB drivers, Apple's iCloud, Update utility, Bonjour, and more.
iTunes app from Microsoft Store for Windows 10
Easy Installation & No Extra Software:
During Installation, the EXE version or the WIN 32 version was uninstalled first, and then the store version of iTunes was installed. Post installation, it was able to recognize the existing library instantly, but if you have a big library, it will take time to reindex everything. You get access to iTunes Store, Play music, and so on. Everything remains the same.
There are three major benefits though. First, you don't have to deal with Apple Update utility. It was annoying for it to shows up every time. You start your PC. Second, there is no need to reboot the PC anymore. The previous installation needed PCs to reboot to complete everything. Third, and the last one is all those extra software, i.e. Bonjour, Apple's iCloud are not included.
Windows 10 Integration:
When you pin it to the taskbar or start menu, you get the advantage of the native integration of iTunes. Right-click, and you will see options for:
- Shuffle Music.
- Play Recent Song.
- Open Store directly, and so on.
Recognizing iPad & other devices
When you connect your Apple devices with this version of iTunes, it will download the drivers through the Windows Update. This means the whole process got automated. Right from software update to driver download. However, there are few drawbacks which I have seen few reporting.
- Windows will no longer recognize the phone's name.
- Transferring images from the iPad using the Windows Explorer is terribly slow compared to the regular version. It even drops the connection sometimes. I am guessing it has to do with some bug with the driver which should get an update to speed up things.
Faster:
This version of iTunes is definitely faster than the regular version without a doubt. The app launch and sync were much smoother and almost instant. Henceforth Microsoft Store is only going to handle the future updates of iTunes.
Overall, it is great to have iTunes on Windows 10.
