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Songbird: An iTunes Killer |
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Monday, 18 June 2007 |
I have been searching for an alternative to iTunes for some time now. I wanted to get away from the DRM, as well as the "evil corporation" type vibe that comes from anything made by Apple or Microsoft. The main reason, though, is that I wanted an all in one solution to iTunes that would run in Linux. Amarok is ok, but I don't like the interface. Needless to say, after some searching, I found exactly what I needed: Songbird.
(click to enlarge)
Songbird is a music management system that has a similar interface to iTunes users (except the default is a sexy black/grey scheme), and it is under development. It has not yet reached version 1.0, the current stable version being 0.2.5, with version 0.3 expected very soon (lots of fixes!). The best part is the iPod integration! It works perfectly when syncing music, but it does have a problem syncing podcasts at the moment, as it synced only the first 1min25 sec of a 1hr25min podcast...That said, let's discuss some cool features:
- Songbird is built upon the Mozilla engine, thus is cross-platform compatible
- "Feathers" (plugins) are available, and thanks to Mozilla, this Player supports streaming music and streaming radio, as well as the ability to add podcast subscriptions simply by browsing to their feed
- iPod Compatible
- Other players will be/are being added to the list of compatible devices
- Skinable
- Sees network devices and network services
- Incorporates the eMusic, CD Baby, Birdman Records, Beggars Group, and Amazon music stores, and more can be added through "feathers"
- Can subscribe to MP3 Blogs
- Play music from Yahoo! Unlimited
- Tons more extensions/plugins available on Dev site
- Is faster than iTunes, although a bit buggy in its early version
- It is pretty!
Needless to say, you should try this player no matter what platform you run! Windows, Linux, Mac - it runs on everything! Please, take a look, and make sure to report any bugs you run into!
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