FreeLists / blindipod / [blindipod] Re: Final word on iTunes 7 compatibility

["Vincent Mistretta" <vin5451@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Although a dilemma, Brian, you still have come through admirably with a
proper solution for everyone.

Thank goodness Itunes Store doesn't require it's users to upgrade to it's
latest version in order to navigate their site like another Music
Subscription site does.

This all has made up my mind that I am going to purchase an Ipod Video first
gen (available as Refurbs and some store still have them available in USA)
and a first gen Nano or a Mini for my wife.

I will be downloading the 6.5 version of Itunes, since I was unable to find
a link to it and had found 6.0.5 on OldApps.com.

Vince Mistretta
Speak to me on SKYPE ->
Skype Name: vin5451
Get Skype at
http://www.skype.com

Call me at:
Cellular: (561)267-7938


-----Original Message-----
From: blindipod-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:blindipod-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Brian Hartgen
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 8:28 AM
To: blindipod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blindipod] Final word on iTunes 7 compatibility


Hi

This will be quite a lengthy message but I am now coming to the end of the
work on putting the iTunes 7 scripts together so it is worth writing a few
lines.

Undoubtedly, there are some serious compatibility issues between jaws 7.10
and iTunes version 7 which make working with this version of iTunes
impossible in that situation.  Predominantly these issues relate to video
intercept difficulties, but also to some extent the colour changes to the
iTunes program.  Interestingly as a side note, some people on iTunes blogs
and forums say that the colour change is not necessarily aesthetically
pleasing, and I certainly wish Apple had maintained the older display layout
as we would not have experienced all the problems we have done.

During our tests, we did see some of the jaws related difficulties to a very
small extent with some older versions of jaws although these seemed to be
solved by auto-sizing all the columns within a view which we do mention in
our user manual for our interface.

Anna Dresner thankfully last weekend stumbled upon yet another factor which
complicated issues even further, in that the iPod Nano is treated
differently to the Shuffle within iTunes 7 in terms of how to view and copy
music to it.  I had to write extra scripts to support these difficulties and
to allow a person to read important information about the Nano which is
displayed.

Because of these problems, much to my reluctance we will have to make
available two versions of the scripts:  one to support iTunes 6 and the
other for 7.  

As I see it, you could be in three possible situations:

1. If you have iTunes 6 on your computer, and you do not have a new
generation iPod which forces you to upgrade, then do not upgrade.  You have
the best possible functionality we can expect out of the jaws and iTunes
combination.

2. If you do not presently own the scripts but you intend to do so as from
23 October, I would recommend you install iTunes 6.5 onto your computer
unless you have a new generation iPod which forces you to use version 7.  A
new version of the iTunes 6 scripts will be posted to the web site.  There
are no functionality changes, except that they are contained within the new
installer program.  They will require a new kind of authorisation file.
This new style authorisation file is also compatible with the scripts for
iTunes version 7, so if you want to upgrade to see what iTunes 7 is like,
you can do that and then down grade again should you need to.  

Any new copies of the iTunes scripts which are purchased to support version
6 of iTunes are priced at the new 35 pounds value.  The new installer
program will allow you to install the iTunes 6 scripts into jaws version 8
as and when Freedom Scientific release it.  So we are ready for that.

A link to download iTunes version 6.5 will be available from Monday on our
web site.

3. If you need or want to use iTunes version 7, you can download the scripts
from this Monday and start to use them. The usual demonstration copy will be
available (see below).  These scripts will of course be contained within the
new installer and will require the new style authorisation file.  As I have
already said, this means if you do not like or need to have the
functionality of iTunes 7, you can go back to 6.5.  We are not ready for
JAWS 8 and iTunes 7 as yet.  The maximum jaws version you can install into
will be 7.0 and in fact we stop you from installing the scripts into later
jaws versions than that.

Now a few words about how the new installation works if you are downloading
anything from our site as of this Monday.

Previously, you would download the scripts relative to the version of jaws
on your machine and a demonstration file would be installed.  This caused a
problem when people upgraded because it always meant their authorisation was
erased and it needed to be re-installed.

From Monday, you will either download the setup file for the scripts to
support iTunes 6 or 7.  The installer is very clear about which versions of
both iTunes and jaws are supported and you should listen to that information
during the install.

You will then need to download the demonstration authorisation file or
indeed your own new fully licenced authorisation if you have one.  Once
done, again run the file and the installer will talk you through installing
the file.

When this file is installed you are ready to use iTunes.  In the programs
menu off the start menu, you will find an icon called iTunes Accessible
Interface, and in that sub-menu you will have:
A. About, which tells you the version number.
B. The user guide which has been updated.
C. An option to uninstall the interface.

If anyone has any questions after all that information, please ask and I
suspect there will be questions due to the cosmetic differences within
itunes 7 at the very least.  But I hope this message in the meantime is
thorough enough.  Certainly having the different versions of the scripts
really does give the customer the maximum level of choice available.

Brian Hartgen
More information about portable media devices can be obtained from the
Portable Player Portal.  Please visit www.hartgen.org and choose the
Portable Player Portal link.

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PHONE (UK):  0208-133-7186
PHONE (US):  213-985-3581


More information about portable media devices can be obtained from the Portable 
Player Portal.  Please visit 
www.hartgen.org 
and choose the Portable Player Portal link.

To post a message, send your e-mail to
blindipod@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

To unsubscribe from this list, please send a message to
blindipod-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
and put the word
unsubscribe
in the subject line.

To contact the List Owner, Brian Hartgen:

E-MAIL:  brian@xxxxxxxxxxx
MSN:  brian@xxxxxxxxxxx
SKYPE:  brianhartgen
PHONE (UK):  0208-133-7186
PHONE (US):  213-985-3581