iTunes on Windows is not a good experience

You’d think Apple would have the good sense to make the Windows version of iTunes a wonderful software experience. So wonderful that Windows users are tempted to see what other software marvels the computer maker is capable of. So wonderful that we consider dumping Windows and shifting to the Macintosh OS.

Either Apple isn’t bothered about using its software as a marketing tool, or its programmers are incapable of writing decent code for Windows.

Because, to be brutally honest, iTunes on Windows has always been a crappy experience.

ITunes is rubbish. And it hasn’t improved one jot over the years, It crashes, it fails, it loses stuff, it doesn’t sync properly. It leaves behind a trail of software junk all over the Windows hard drive.

Sadly, iTunes remains a must have because it is the only official way to sync an iPod, iPhone or iPad to a PC.

Sure there are alternatives ways to deal with music. But they are all just as flawed. I’m not sure there is an alternative for moving files and apps between a Windows computer and an iPad.

Not only is the software awful, but Apple treats its Windows customers with contempt. Support questions go unanswered, Long-standing problems, which to this non-developer look relatively trivial – go unfixed even when they are widely acknowledged.

My latest problem is that I can’t install iTunes 11 on my Windows 8 desktop. One Twitter user told me not to bother – the older software is better anyway. Well maybe. But my iPad is an important work tool and I want to keep it up-to-date.

Not only will iTunes 11 not install, but I can’t remove iTunes 10. When I attempted to remove the older program the uninstall failed. However that process also affected how the application works. I can no longer use my keyboard to control volume or to stopping files playing. Not a big thing, just more evidence that iTunes is broken.

Apple: please fix this.