With iTunes 10, the library has been improved with an extra view that adds album artwork where there’s room, instead of the traditional album title next to each song. This smartens up library viewing a lot, and generally underlines the new, clean look of the interface. It's no revolution, but looks neater. Playlists and iTunes DJ are untouched, and managing your library is as easy as ever. Creating playlists is one of iTunes' strengths, and it's still simpler and more user-friendly than the competition.

Syncing iTunes with iPods and other Apple devices is really easy, and there are no longer problems using Mac-formatted devices in iTunes for Windows, or vice versa. Home Sharing is a great way to keep your library across multiple computers at home; it is really easy to set up and means all your computers will automatically have up-to-date libraries.

The biggest change with version 10 is to the iTunes Store. Ping, which is linked to your iTunes account, allows you to create a personal profile and share your purchases and reviews with friends, and artists you like. It looks very much like a basic Facebook News Feed or Twitter, but just about music. At the moment Ping feels underdeveloped. You can't share your listening habits, like Last.fm, and manual sharing is limited to the iTunes Store, not your own library. There's no option to share what you're listening to right now, which is pretty terrible! Ping will surely develop and improve very soon.

The basic library function of iTunes is unparalleled, and syncing with iPods, iPhones and iPads is excellent. iTunes 10’s new social features are interesting, but limited at the moment.

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Much like other ringtone creating programs, with iRinger you'll be able to create custom ringtones for the iPhone in a snap, without having to learn how to use a complicated audio editor. Simply launch iRinger and upload your favorite song or video on it.

iRinger can also create a ringtone out of a video file soundtrack, which is a feature a lot of users will likely appreciate. After the media has been imported, you'll need to edit the song in a different way though. Instead of selecting the audio in order to copy, paste or cut it, you have to drag the timeline inside the app's interface to adjust the starting point, and then set the length of the ringtone.

iRinger also includes a bunch of special effects to add to your ringtones: delay, reverse or boost are some of them. They're all available in a special collapsible window on the left side of the program's main interface. Once the ringtone has been properly edited, all you have to do is click 'Export' and it will be saved as an M4R file, ready to be imported into iTunes and synced with your iPhone.

iRinger is a very easy way to create your own customized iPhone ringtones for free.

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To make the application work the inbuilt microphone of your computer needs to be working or you need to have a microphone installed. Just run your media player and let the computer listen to your tracks. You'll have to click on the interrogation mark in the application window for the program to search its database. It lists the title of the song and the artist's name as soon as it finds it.

Obviously Tunatic doesn't get it right all the time, and depends hugely on the database of songs that is being maintained by the developers. It is still quite a surprising tool and can find certain songs really quickly.

Once Tunatic finds a song, it will also let you search iTunes for it, let you look for the ring tone, or search Google to find the lyrics.

Tunatic may not work all the time, but it is a really clever way of finding title's of all those unnamed songs in your library. Worth a try.

Download Tunatic 1.0.1 b in Softonic

And if you're learning the piano and can't afford your own instrument, then this is a brilliant solution. Well, it's better than nothing anyway. Virtual HS Piano is a simple MIDI piano which simulates everything from traditional piano to honky-tonk, marimba or an accordion. It also backing from a drums and other percussion so that you can really feel like you're making sweet music. You're certainly not limited by choice - there are 128 instruments to choose from although the sound effects selection is pretty poor - 12 to be exact - and there are only 3 melodies for which you can play to. However, the keyboard features all 36 notes you expect to find on a keyboard so it's very realistic in that respect although the MIDI sound effects can never be a substitute for a real piano. The interface and design are pretty flimsy and basic looking but it's very simple to use and does the job it's built for.

A simple and flexible tool for anyone that loves that MIDI sound or needs to familiarise themselves with the piano..

Download HS Virtual Piano 1.0 in Softonic

You can also have iTunes Agent recognize the file type for each device. This is particularly useful as each MP3 player usually favors a different file format.

Download iTunes Agent 1.3.3 in Softonic

One of the new features and improvements included in the newest version of Windows Media Player Plus is a more powerful search tool that lets you find videos or songs just by starting to type their title anywhere on the screen – and not just the search field. There is also an improved Tag Editor Plus for your media files. The tag editor supports album art and batch editing, and features global hotkeys, Party Shuffle, to name a few.

Windows Media Player Plus also improves small details in the player’s interface, leaving more space for the media you’re currently playing. Other customization options include the ability to display the current playing song on the program’s title bar, as well as the ability to change the format of the message you show in Windows Live Messenger.

Unfortunately, Windows Media Player Plus is only compatible with the latest versions of Microsoft’s player, that is, Windows Media Player 11 and 12.

Windows Media Player Plus is an excellent plug-in for Windows Media Player, with interesting improvements and new features.

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iTunes Lyrics importer or "iLyrics" automatically searches the net when you click Get Lyrics and downloads the song lyrics based on their titles. However, you should note that iLyrics is a discontinued project due to copyright issues according to the developer. This means that it definitely will not work with iTunes 9 although it may still work with iTunes 7.0 and 8.0 for which it was designed.

iLyrics has a huge databank to choose from thanks to the Lyricswiki project which allows users to upload the lyrics of their favorite songs. Because of this, you're more likely to find the lyrics of obscure songs rather than other lyrics sites which concentrate more on mainstream offerings. To use iLyrics, you need to go into Tools in iTunes and select Lyrics Viewer.

Normally, iLyrics will give you a direct hit and provide you with exactly the song you were looking for. However, occasionally it will confuse the song with another one but you only have two modes "Update automatically" or "Manual Mode". If you select the former and it finds the wrong lyrics, note that you'll lose the old lyrics and they will be replaced by lyrics that may be wrong. If your initial experiments prove to be a bit dodgy, then I'd recommend using the latter mode which gives you control over whether to definitely replace the lyrics or not.

iLyrics is an excellent addition up to iTunes 8.0 which has a huge resource of lyrics to draw from although take note that the project is officially discontinued.

Download iTunes Lyrics importer (iLyrics) 1.1 in Softonic

With iTunes streets ahead of the rest of its rivals, Yahoo! is revving up its engine in a bid to catch up with the uber-popular music player and download service.
Make no mistake about it, Yahoo! Music Jukebox is the search company’s attempt to wrestle the lucrative music download business from Apple’s clutches – and it’s not a bad effort either.

Billed as a complete music management system, the application allows you to organize your music collection, create playlists and access music downloads and streams from the well stocked Y!
Unlimited portal. It pulls this off through an attractive, easy-to-use interface that looks and feels like the lovechild of iTunes and MusicMatch Jukebox.

Out of Beta and now with iPod support (apart from the Nano and Shuffle versions), Yahoo! Music Engine surprisingly does some things even better than its Apple-built rival.
Adding music to playlists is much simpler for instance, because you can drag and drop tracks directly from your library into the playlist without having to open a new window.

However, the biggest differences between the two apps arise in the integration of their respective download services. The Yahoo! Music Jukebox brings the online service and the client app together much tighter than iTunes does.
Some of the cooler features include the ability to create personalized LAUNCHcast radio stations, build playlists based on these personal preferences, and the ability to share songs and playlists via Messenger or email.

As with iTunes, streaming music is limited to 30 seconds per song, although registered Yahoo! members qualify for a free 7-day membership trial of Y!Unlimited. This entitles users to play every song in its entirety during this week – a tantalising prospect when you realize there are more than a million different tracks to choose from.

However, the deal becomes less appetizing when you realize you need to enter your credit card details to qualify for the trial, and unless you cancel, the company will start plucking five dollars a month from your account.
What’s more, becoming a registered user only entitles you to a meagre saving on paid downloads – 79 cents per song (it’s 99 cents for non-members).
As you’d probably expect from a big-brand internet firm, the service is riddled with adverts for itself and other Yahoo! services, sometimes subtly and sometimes annoyingly in-your-face.
Even if you’re just using the player to spin tracks and organize your MP3 collection, you’re still forced to install Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo!
Toolbar as part of the bloated software installation.
Given the swollen nature of the software and the fact that the player is so similar to iTunes it’s hard to see why anyone would want to switch over from the Apple software to Yahoo!
Music Jukebox. Having said this while we’ve now uninstalled the app and removed its far-reaching tentacles from our machine, there are enough novel features to make this program worth checking out.

Download Yahoo! Music Jukebox 2.0.2.049 in Softonic

The program is connected to the Amazon database and adds the album cover of the song that is playing at any one time. It doesn't always offer you the right album unfortunately although it prompts you to select one from a list of probable candidates. You can configure the program to automatically choose the one that it thinks is correct although you may end up with Billy Joel instead of Billy Ocean.

When you start up the Importer, iTunes will also start up if it's not already running. The best way to use the Importer is to select all the tracks for a single album in iTunes and click the search button in the Importer (denoted by the magnifying glass). It will then query Amazon.com for albums that match. If multiple albums are found, the best match will be automatically selected. When the correct album is selected and the album art is displayed on the left, simply click the Import button and you're done.

This is not an essential program for music lovers but it can deepen your appreciation of your collection by learning about the album cover info.

Download iTunes Art Importer 0.9.3 in Softonic

MediaMonkey automatically scans your PC for all types of music formats. If you have playlists from other programs, it’s good to know that MediaMonkey also adds m3u files, sparing you the pain of having to recreate them. The file explorer view on the left lets you easily navigate your music collection by categories like artist, genre or rating. You can convert tracks in MediaMonkey into any format you wish, depending on what size or quality of sound you’re looking for. MediaMonkey also lets you analyze and adjust the volume of tracks to increase your listening experience.

MediaMonkey has made its reputation on its advanced tagging management feature. Every time a track is added, the program will verify its tags. You can automatically fill in missing details with info from Amazon or Filename. The program can clean up your tags, move information into the correct categories and synchronize tags for selected tracks. You can also rename and move multiple files thanks to the auto-organize function. MediaMonkey also supports Winamp plugins and visualizations plus skins can be applied to spice up the interface.

If you want to make your own mix CDs, you’ll be happy to know that MediaMonkey rips and burns CDs and DVDs. Create a virtual CD of your favorite tracks and let MediaMonkey do its job. Budding DJs will enjoy the auto-DJ mode, which mixes tracks for you and the Party Mode, which blocks your configuration but lets anybody play their favorite tune. MediaMonkey’s versatility doesn’t stop there. The music manager also lets you synchronize with your portable music devices like your iPod or iRiver.

If you feel like completing your library with a couple of fresh albums you can browse sites like Amazon, Barnes and Noble or AllPosters and purchase tracks. However, unlike Songbird, where you can type in a URL, browse and save your favorite music blogs and sites, MediaMonkey only allows you to browse their selection of online stores.

We were disappointed with the web radio selection, which only features Shoutcast and Icecast, and were surprised to see no sign of podcasts anywhere in the application. However version 3.0 is planning on incorporating this to the application.

Despite these drawbacks, we recommend MediaMonkey to anybody looking for a solid alternative to iTunes or Winamp. This original music manager is more than capable of organizing a very large music library and offers advanced tagging management rarely seen in other music applications. While the browser and web radio are fairly limited, MediaMonkey allows you to rip your custom CDs and connects to most portable music devices. If you really take a liking to MediaMonkey, cough up a few bucks and upgrade to the Gold version, which will open up all of the program’s functionalities like finding missing tracks or creating auto (smart) playlists.

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Praat can read sounds recorded with the program or audio files recorded in another way. Once loaded, Praat generates a graph of waves which indicate intonation, intensity, volume and other complex details. Praat is able to isolate certain sound bites or filter frequencies either manually or using scripts.

There is no avoiding that Praat is a complex tool for linguists, however. It is difficult to get to grips with and although there is an extensive manual, this too is aimed mainly at linguistic experts. For those seeking an introduction to audio analysis and spectrographs, they may well find Praat too complex.

Praat is a powerful audio analysis tool that will give linguists a high degree of control over spectrographs.

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Magix Music Manager 2007 is the perfect example of a well-done music manager. In fact, it's so complete you feel overwhelmed by all the options displayed on its nicely designed interface. Luckily enough it only takes a few minutes to create your own database and start adding music.

Besides the usual features in these apps, such as a tag editor, an embedded player or a 10-band equalizer, Magix Music Manager includes other interesting extra functions like the possibility to record CD and DVD or a simple yet convenient mini DJ console to play and mix two tracks simultaneously in real time and direct access to Internet radios and podcasts, as well as support for portable music devices.

The only drawback to this program, if any, is the unusual placement of playback controls, which are found ar the bottom of the interface and are not very comfortable to use. Other than that, Magix Music Manager is a perfect app to cover all your music needs.

Magix Music Manager enables you to take full control over your music collection: listen to music, fix tags, burn CD, record online radios and create your personal music mixes.

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For some reason, in Windows Vista, Microsoft have decided to remove the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) for DirectSound and DirectSound3D. This means that any of your games that require use of this card will be rendered almost useless or at least, not work properly. Fortunately, this small program from Creative Labs allows you to enjoy them still as the developers intended with full hardware accelerated 3D Audio and EAX support. The program works by translating the legacy DirectSound calls into OpenAL and simply isntalls a few files in each game directory. Unfortuantely, at this stage it still does not work with all games and you'll have to check the developer website to see whether the games you want to run are supported. Note that this is not some kind of driver software and therefore requires that you have an appropriate driver installed and functioning properly first.

An essential little program for all DirectSound3D card owners but note that it doesn't work with all programs yet.

Download Creative ALchemy 1.10.01 in Softonic

TuneAid connects to your device and displays its content (namely music and video) organized in a similar way to that of iTunes: a list of audio and video files you can sort by artist, song, album and more. You can then select certain songs (or simply all of them) and copy them straight away from TuneAid to your computer.

TuneAid can copy the content to any folder on your hard drive or directly to your iTunes library. It comes really handy not only to transfer songs from one computer to another, but also as a backup copy.

Just make sure your device is not protected by an access code: my iPhone was and it took me ages to figure out why TuneAid wasn't detecting it.

With TuneAid you can easily copy and transfer the content of your iPhone or iPod between different computers.

Download TuneAid 3.76 in Softonic