Monday, February 26, 2007

Hello, I'm iTunes.

Apple can make fun of Vista's pesky security dialogs, but do you know what they make me do every time a sub-point release of iTunes is available?
  1. iTunes asks me if I want to download the latest version.
  2. I click yes.
  3. Firefox opens to an ad-filled page with a form in the corner.
  4. I uncheck the first "do you want us to email ads to you?" question.
  5. I uncheck the second "do you want us to email ads to you?" question.
  6. Here's a secret: if you uncheck both those boxes, you don't have to fill in an email address.
  7. I click the "download" button.
  8. Firefox asks me what to do with the file.
  9. I click "Save file".
  10. I wait for a thirty-five megabyte download, even if it's just a small patch.
  11. I close the "Downloads" dialog box.
  12. I close Firefox.
  13. I close iTunes.
  14. I find the downloaded setup executable.
  15. I double-click the setup executable.
  16. I click "Next".
  17. I click "I accept".
  18. I click "Next".
  19. I click "Install".
  20. I wait several musicless minutes for it to completely overwrite the entire existing installation directory, even if it's just a small patch.
  21. Guess what, it still installs QuickTime on the side, as if I had any more interest in QuickTime than I have for the last 15 years.
  22. I click "Finish".
  23. iTunes starts (automatically! gee whiz!).
  24. The license agreement pops up again.
  25. I click "I Agree".
  26. I wait a minute for iTunes to "update the iTunes library".
  27. Here's the best part: as with every single previous release, iTunes still decides that maybe this time I really do want a QuickTime icon in the system tray.
  28. I right-click the QuickTime tray icon and choose "QuickTime Preferences" (er, I prefer not to know about QuickTime?)
  29. I click the "Advanced" tab.
  30. I uncheck the "Install QuickTime icon in system tray" option at the bottom.
  31. I click "OK".
And now I'm back to having iTunes working the way it did before. Only, as far as I can tell, the sole distinguishing feature of the new version is that it no longer asks me if I want to upgrade. For the moment.

Update: It looks like iTunes 7.0.2 installed a new "Apple Software Update" program on my computer. Does this mean my post was just in time to be obsolete? Here's hoping.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My, aren't we snarky! Please keep the posting to Javascript. :)

Noel said...

Get a Mac.

:D

Anonymous said...

I was also gonna point to Macs... for us it's just

1. Click Apple
2. Software Update
2b. Let it check for any updates
3. Click "Install"
4. Enter password, if needed, for software update to continue
4b. Sit back while it all updates
5. Load iTunes as normal

Hurrah! But I have to agree with your post, with Windows there are waaay to many steps. In Apple's defence though, the -way- you update is pretty common for Windows and they've done it in the friendliest way they can for the majority of windows users.

Anonymous said...

I'm confused; I'm running XP and that doesn't happen to me :/