iTunes

One of the big changes in iTunes 11 is the new MiniPlayer. The iTunes MiniPlayer has been around for years, but its functionality has been enhanced with iTunes 11. In addition to being a control center for playing your music, you can also use it to search for songs, playlists, and more, and to access the Up Next queue. Here's how you can get the most out of the iTunes MiniPlayer.

iTunes 11, which arrived last week, brought some big changes with it. And for the last few days I've been helping you work around some of those changes, like restoring the iTunes sidebar and even returning to iTunes 10.

iTunes 11, whose delayed release fueled much speculation about last-minute changes following an internal reorganization at Apple, sports the most radical alterations to the program’s interface since its inception. Previous upgrades to iTunes were incremental, adding features and tweaking the interface, but iTunes 11 puts a whole new face on the software. In addition, iTunes 11 seems to be designed more for playing music than for organizing it—a slightly anachronistic approach, given the prevalence of portable devices.

[Ask the iTunes Guy is a regular column in which we answer your questions on everything iTunes related. If there's something you'd like to know, send an email to the iTunes Guy for consideration.]

This week I look at a number of questions about splitting audio files, which file format to use for ripping CDs, and updating podcasts, plus share a tip for live performers who use music in their iTunes libraries.

Reader Alex Christie has run into a common iTunes frustration. He writes:

[Ask the iTunes Guy is a regular column in which we answer your questions on everything iTunes related. If there’s something you’d like to know, send an email to the iTunes Guy for consideration.]