Visual Differences Between iTunes 9 and 10 →
A year ago, I compared the then-brand-new iTunes 9 against its predecessor. New year, new version of iTunes, so here’s an updated comparison. It’s amazing to see just how much visual tweaking Apple does with each new major version of the application.
I’ve also slightly redesigned the whole thing this year so that you can easily view last year’s comparison, and a fun 8 versus 10 version as well.
The desaturated icons caught me off-guard, as it seems was the case for many. I’m less offended by the new icon. Sorry, Wilson.
It is fascinating to me that iTunes UI updates elicit the same kind of rage from the design community that you see from the general public when Facebook makes even the slightest change to their experience. My expectation is that we will all have adjusted by next Thursday, and might even start to like some of the new design shortly after.
Now excuse me while I start a “Petition to bring back the saturated icons in iTunes!” group on Facebook.
Oh, the new iTunes icon looks so very amateur. Also, why did they make the volume slider so chubby? But my biggest concern is not over a visual difference, but over the fact that this Ping service recommends I follow Lady Gaga. I know this is new and practically nobody is on there, but Apple has to have enough data on my music purchasing habits to know better than that.
