iTunes 7 is about the slowest program that ever made it to my Sony VAIO (about 3 years old, running Vista RTM). Opening the tag edit screen of a song takes 10 seconds, scrolling through a large library feels like pushing an elephant through a small door, Vista isn’t allowing to start the program thruogh the start menu (the icon is there, though it isn’t responding after clicking it: just one of those bugs in Vista I think..) and updating my iPod is just the most horrible task ever.

That’s why I deleted iTunes form my PC and started to use the Windows Explorer to manage my music, it works perfectly! Only one problem: Can’t update my iPod… Time to get some real iTunes alternatives! Sadly I don’t have time to write reviews so I’ll just post a list, maybe I can free some time next week and post a review, though it would be nice if you’ll post your experiences is a comment.

[FREE]

Songbird + iPod device extension (OSX/Linux/Windows)

YamiPod (OSX/Linux/Windows)

EphPod (Windows) (Note: May not work properly with new iPods)

[NOT FREE]

Anapod Explorer (Windows)

SharePod (Windows)

XPlay (Windows)

CopyGear (OSX)

Got more alternatives? Please post them in a comment and I’ll add them to the list.

Yesterday I posted a way to stream your iTunes library over the internet. This post has been warmly welcomed by most of you so I decided to write a part 2. It is easy to download the shared music from the network.

To do this, simply download ourTunes from http://ourtunes.sourceforge.net/ (if you are running windows, download the executable).

Log on to your hamachi network (click here to read part 1) and start ourTunes. It will automaticly connect to all hosts available. Click ‘File > Download Directory’ and set the download dir.

To download, select the songs you want to download, right click the selection and choose ‘download’.

As you see on the screen below, there are networks containing 17000+ songs.

A few hours ago I was searching for a way to share my music itunes library with some friends. After trying some different options I think I found the best one. Hamachi allows you to share your iTunes library with a few mouse clicks (and only with people you know so it won’t destroy your bandwidth).

The requirements:

- iTunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes/)
- Hamachi (http://www.hamachi.cc/)

Preperation:

1. Install and open Hamachi.

2. After following the brief on screen tutorial and create a new network by clicking on the bottom-middle button.

The guide:

1. Open iTunes and Click Edit>Preferences>Sharing.

2. Click the ‘Share my music’ checkbox.

3. Now give the name of your network along with the passowrd to someone you know, let him join your network and start iTunes. If he or she also follows the previous two steps (not the netwrk creation) you will also be able to listen to his/her music!

Troubleshooting

Q: I cannot see any shared music?
A: Two solutions:
1. restart iTunes (simple, isn’t it?)
2. In iTunes click Edit>Preferences>Sharing and click the ‘Look for shared music’ checkbox

CLICK HERE TO READ PART 2!!!
Disclaimer

Of course you need to respect copyright. I think you know that it is illegal to share songs that contain a copyright. Use this guide only to share your homemade music.