Product Reviews

Having a large digital music collection is great, but organising it can be tricky. While a collection of loosely arranged directories may suit some, using an application is a much better option.

The two main applications you're likely to come across are iTunes and Windows Media Player (WMP), both of which are free downloads. Here we'll look at the latest versions, iTunes 4.7 and WMP10.

One of the main changes in WMP10 is its built-in support for ripping tracks to MP3. Previous versions supported only WMA files natively, and users had to buy an MP3 codec. While WMA is a better format that produces higher-quality sound at lower bit rates, MP3 has wider support. This is particularly important if you buy a wireless receiver, as they all support MP3 but not all work with WMA.

Apple iTunes has always supported MP3, although the default setting is to use Apple's AAC format. Again, this has a sound and size advantage over MP3, but it has even less support than WMA. iTunes can also rip audio to uncompressed WAV, which is useful if you want to create a mix CD. It can also convert imported WMA files, although it can't handle the protected versions.

Software for burning CDs is built into iTunes, although you have to compile a playlist of the tracks you want to copy. With WMP10 you just select a file and add it to the burn list, which is marginally easier than the iTunes method.

ADVERTISEMENT

While both programs enable you to browse your music collection by artist, album and genre, iTunes is the friendlier software. Its large interface and Browse mode make it very easy to locate a file. WMP10's tree structure is a little messier.

iTunes is also better at organising the file structure of your music collection. You can configure it to rename files based on ID3 tag information and copy the files into your iTunes music directory. WMP10 has some similar-looking options but didn't copy our music into one folder.

Playlists are a big part of any playback software, and in this respect there's little to tell the two apart. Both deal well with traditional playlists, where you select individual files, and smart playlists, where you define search criteria, such as the artist's name, and let the software build the list.

For those who are interested in buying music downloads, iTunes has the Music Store while WMP10 has MSN, Tiscali and Wanadoo to name but a few. The choice of which one you use is likely to be dictated by your portable player: Apple's Music Store files play only on the iPod; WMP10 files play only on other devices.

If you use iTunes you can share your music library over a network and transmit tracks to the AirPort Express wireless router. WMP10 doesn't have this feature, although it has the best overall media support. While iTunes comes bundled with QuickTime, WMP10 plays high-definition videos, DVDs (provided you have a DVD codec), photos and streams from the internet all through the same interface. It's certainly the better player for this, and the best choice if you want to organise all your media files under one interface.

For audio, though, iTunes is our favourite application for organising files. Its excellent interface and efficient organisation make it easy to keep a music library of any size in order. If you don't have an iPod you can always use it to organise your files and use WMP10 simply for synchronisation.