The first version of iTunes for Windows... How poorly did it hold up?
(8 August 2025) When it comes to programs with reputations, iTunes is a poster child. Once a iconic piece of music player software, over the years it became incredibly bloated, with the features of podcast playing, TV show streaming, and device management. Apple even acknowledged and joked about this in the announcement of iTunes' discontinuation on Mac. But it is still around on Windows, so what was the first version of it for Windows like?
Watch on YouTube
Software used
- Paint.NET 5.1.9
- OBS Studio 31.x
- Audacity 3.7.4
- DaVinci Resolve 20.0
Music (in chronological order)
*Demonstration includes music from the YouTube Audio Library, vocals from SteelsOfLiquid video VCNM-0157A-20, and public domain content from Wikipedia.
- "Weekend in Tattoine" by Unicorn Heads
- "City Night Lights" by Bad Snacks
- "On The Eve" by The Grey Room / Density & Time
- "Computer Bounce" by Geographer
Works Cited
- "A History of the iPod: 2000 to 2004", Tom Hormby, LowEndMac. 2013 August 10, accessed 2025 August 5. https://lowendmac.com/2013/ipod-history-origin-2000-2004/
- "Apple Launches iTunes for Windows", Apple Newsroom. 2003 October 16, accessed 2025 August 5. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/16Apple-Launches-iTunes-for-Windows/
- "Apple launches iTunes, revolutionizing how people consume music", HISTORY.com Editors, HISTORY. 2019 September 6/2025 May 27, accessed 2025 August 5. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-9/apple-launches-itunes
- "Apple PC iTunes hits 1 million downloads", Reuters via CNN. 2003 October 21, accessed 2025 August 5. https://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/10/21/apple.itunes.reut/
- "Apple Polishes iTunes for Windows", Nate Mook, BetaNews. 2003 October 22, accessed 2025 August 5. https://betanews.com/2003/10/22/apple-polishes-itunes-for-windows/
- "History of iTunes", Wikipedia Contributors, Wikipedia. Last edited 2025 July 30, accessed 2025 August 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_iTunes
- "iPod", Wikipedia Contributors, Wikipedia. Last edited 2025 July 20, accessed 2025 August 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod
- "iTunes Downloads Top 275,000 in First Week", Apple Newsroom. 2001 January 16, accessed 2025 August 5. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2001/01/16iTunes-Downloads-Top-275-000-in-First-Week/
- "SoundJam MP", Wikipedia Contributors, Wikipedia. Last edited 2025 June 2, accessed 2025 August 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoundJam_MP
Media used
- Flag_of_Edward_England.svg.png by WarX, edited by Manuel Strehl - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=609773
- IPod1stWIKIPEDIA.png by Miguelon756-5303, CC BY-SA 4.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 - via Wikimedia Commons
- LimeWire2.png - The original uploader was Yarnalgo at English Wikipedia. GPL - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html - via Wikimedia Commons
- Napster_logo.svg by Jusore, GPLv3 - http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html - via Wikimedia Commons
- Stevejobs_Macworld2005.jpg by mylerdude, CC BY 2.0 - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 - via Wikimedia Commons