iTunes 7 - It Lives!

In my mind, the best part of this week's announcements from Apple has been a chunky upgrade to the iTunes application. New features include:

* Cover Flow album art viewing
* Automatic album art retrieval
* Full length films are available for purchase from the iTunes Store. Priced at $13 to $15 for new releases and $10 for older titles.
* 2-way sync with iPod
* Gapless playback (yeah, baby!)

I've been using the new iTunes version 7 for a couple of days now and I couldn't be happier. It feels like a well-rounded and capable piece of software. As I use it, no longer do I lament what is missing. In fact, some of the (long overdue) improvements - gapless playback and automated cover art fetching/display - make you wonder how you ever lived without them. iTunes has finally hit its stride with the version 7 release and I'm curious, and excited, to see how Apple will improve on this.