Emailing "Overview: iTunes 8 with Genius Playlists"

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Author: Damon Brown

In his last column, Damon Brown took a close look at the new iPods Apple rolled out at its "Let's Rock!" event earlier this month. This time around, he focuses on software: specifically, iTunes 8 with its new Grid View and much-hyped Genius playlist feature.

iTunes 8, which you would have been automatically prompted to download by now, has a few subtle differences overall. For instance, the Mini Player option has been switched to the View menu and the Shuffle has been moved to the Controls menu, neatly divided into "Turn Off Shuffle," "By Songs," "By Albums," and "By Groupings."

That said, the biggest hype has been around two additions: Album Grid and Genius. Let's look at the (slightly less cooler) Album Grid first.

Start up iTunes 8 and it will automatically recheck your songs for downloadable album covers. It will then default into Album Grid. All your songs are listed, via the album cover, in a vertical column. At the top the category listing can be reorganized by Album, Artists, Genre and Composer.

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You'll see a control bar next to the categories. Move the control bar to adjust the size of the album and, therefore, the amount of album covers shown per row. The search function - located in the upper right hand corner - works exactly the same. Also, as usual, you can use the icons next to the search bar to list or Cover Flow your collection.

Finally, the much-hyped Genius creates on-the-spot playlists based on what you're in the mood to listen to. The Genius Sidebar is available immediately in iTunes 8 - a sidebar will pop up asking you to turn it on. First, it will ask you to log into your Apple Store account so Genius can recommend available songs to you (if you don't have an account, it will ask you to create one).