With Apple's new version 10 of iTunes now on the wires, there are some things people find wonderful about the product and some things a lot of people just aren't happy with.

We are going to look at a few reasons why you might want to think twice about allowing Apple's iTunes to reign supreme on your list of media managers.

You might not want to install Apple's New iTunes if....

7. You find no compelling reason to update.

Corporations always evaluate new releases of software for a few key points before upgrading because upgrades are usually disruptive. One of those reasons is: "What can this update do for me?" Another is: "What will this software do to me?" Another is: "What does it cost?" For the average home user, iTunes will cost you little in time and fuss as the program is 'free'. But if you've just spent months adding in all of your old records, tapes and cds and took the time to organize everything nicely into playlists and selected the right columns, this update could throw you for a loop. If social networking is not your thing, and your happy with the current layout views, then aside from the forced (nagging) nature of the iTunes' update system, you may find no compelling reason to update.

6. You like color.

Previous versions of iTunes had a decent color scheme, useful for quickly glancing and without reading, easily determining if you are in music, movie, genius or podcast mode. The new version of iTunes drops the color icon style set for a harder to differentiate monotone color scheme that many, including myself find harder on the eyes. When color TV's came out, people quickly ditched their old crusty black and white sets. A good color scheme can make a good product great and a bad one can take the spark away. Apple's new color scheme is a fail. People with vision problems will find the lack of contrast especially hard to deal with. The new design scheme is an example of poor visual design and wasted effort as the previous iteration was much better. Apple should have used the time to add a new feature like new compression options for high fidelity music sources like SACD's and DVD-A's or better yet, Blu-ray support.

5. The old layout views were easier.

The way iTunes 9 and previous versions presented layout views worked well for me, they even added coverflow and though I rarely used it, it didn't bother me. Now, version 10 has added an additional layout view, bringing the total stock views to 4. However, the way Apple has implemented the control, it is now more complicated than it needs to be. By adding a fourth option, all they've really done is take an already obvious option and put it right in front of your face and taken another once obvious option and put it where you are not likely to easily find it. For some people the new layout is just added functionality, but others will find it unnecessarily complicated compared to how it was and they will have to spend a few minutes adjusting everything.

4. It's too social for you.

If you are a homebody like I am sometimes, you may really enjoy the new Ping functionality. Sharing 'likes' and ideas with other music fans is a great way to find some awesome music that is relatively hidden from the mainstream. For others, this is just anther 'me too' feature that is more of an intrusion than anything else. Besides, you already have FaceBook, MySpace, AOL and a myriad of other sites for that. If you choose to use Ping, you do have some control over what it shares, but unless you are aware of what all those controls mean, you may find yourself sharing some things you thought were private.

3. Ping blows your cover.

If you decide to use Apple's new Ping feature, then be warned, all your previous iTunes reviews will come back to haunt you. Any iTunes reviews you've made in the past, will now reflect the name you selected when setting up Ping (ours is ROCKandREVIEW). Many smaller record labels seed their iTunes recordings with fake reviews in an effort to get people to comment, afraid of the 'deserted restaurant' syndrome. Depending on the name you used, this could be good or bad. It could be especially bad, if you've gone to competitors products and left a particularly nasty review - cough, cough. If you find yourself in that later category, you can quickly save yourself from more embarrassment by heading over to your iTunes account and making a few adjustments. For some strange reason, you can't remove your previous reviews through your Ping account, you have to do it through your iTunes account. (Confused yet?) So click on 'Store' > then, 'View My Account.' Once you login, head over to the 'Manage Reviews' button.

Now, when Ping first launched, there was a function to import all of your FaceBook information, but due to FaceBook's need for cash and Apple's refusal to pay for using the FB API that is supposed to be free, Apple pulled the feature after FB begin blocking requests. But if and when this feature is added back, your FaceBook world will have the ability to co-mingle with your iTunes/Ping world. Again, depending upon your level of "separation of worlds" this could be a pro or a con.

Seinfeld - "Worlds Collide"

2. iTunes 10 is losing it's easy nature.

Apple has always been known for it's simple nature. The success of the iPod has grated on the nerves of the old Apple faithful. Those people who stuck with Apple from the beginning and during Jobs' leave of absence that almost drove the company into the ground. But the success of Apple's consumer products division (i.e. the iPod) may mean the death of what made it great. Remember the one button mouse? Now it's complicated with what is the heavy-weighted Magic Mouse. The problem with lower-priced consumer products is that they really have a higher price and mass-market products have lots of demands. Mostly on the companies that make them. So is Apple's easy nature being changed into one that follows easy profits?

The original version of iTunes was a dream of simplicity, it sucked in your songs and you hit play to play and stop to stop. iTunes had a minimum of features and a minimum of buttons. There was no store and no iPod. Version 2 added support for the iPod and just as it is today, was the only legal way to get songs onto your iPod from your old media collection (that you presumably owned). By the time version 4 came around, we should have known where this was all going, but the lure of easy profits is hard to ignore. Version 4 added the iTunes store and since that time, Apple has been on a roll of high-impact commercial successes. But also since that time, new, true functionality as gone the way of the buffalo. I don't have to worry about my record player divulging all of my personal details to everyone who happens to be using it to play a tune. And I don't have to worry about my daughter accidentally (or purposefully) clicking on that expensive 'download now' button.

With all of the functions iTunes now does, it's as if music has not only taken a back seat, but been put into a little box in the trunk. Now that AirTunes is AirPlay, it's only a matter of time before the name iTunes gives way to another. Any suggestions? Apple is listening, I assure you.

1. You love the CD.

When Apple announced the new version of iTunes, one statement that Jobs made was deathly clear. The CD is dead.  While that may be true for the vast majority of people out there, I happen to love physical media. I like to read the liner notes and I like the higher bit and sample rate. Without getting into a lot of technical details, the CD has a sample rate of 44.1kHz and a bit rate of 16. There are higher resolution Audio discs like DVD-A and SACD's that have even higher sample rates. But even your basic CD has a higher sample rate than most digital alternatives. The reason is that high sample and bit rates take up a ton of hard drive space.

One thing that could happen as a result of the success of iTunes is that alternative sources of media could suffer and even disappear altogether. That's bad news for audiophiles like myself. But you never know, there is still a good market for vinyl. You just have to know where to look.

And as a sort of nail in the coffin, Apple saw fit to update it's iTunes logo with a cleaner, elegant, cd-less design. I applaud Apple's success, but not at the expense of something else I appreciate just as much.