i'm starting to mac...uh, crack

I've been experimenting w/ media players lately, and I've come to find out that there isn't one that truly does everything I want it to. My top player for awhile now has been Winamp. I've enjoyed many of the customizable plug-ins that are available for as well as the basic layout and functionality of the program itself. For the longest time before that though, I was blinded by the availability of Windows Media Player. It's nice once you get the blinders off, and you can truly start to see what's available out there. I will have to admit that I did enjoy the ability to minimize the player to the taskbar. I like minimizing the players, but smaller versions are still on the screen, and it seemed like a better solution having it there than on the desktop.

There were others too: the requisite RealPlayer, MusicMatch, JetAudio, and I'm pretty sure there were some others, but they've slipped my mind. But there is this overwhelming sense of exploration that takes over and I want to see how the grass is over there…Which brings me to my next player. I started playing w/ iTunes in order to see what the deal is w/ podcasts. I've been avoiding so much of what's been happening on the web lately that, like Blogging, it seemed to be passing me by. So I'm digging podcasts. Now I've added another element the long unwritten list of features needed in an all-in-one player. As I started to work w/ iTunes, I began to sort out the good and the bad.

• Forget whatever reason Apple has for not including it, I think a Winamp style playlist should be included. Then again what's the difference in clearing a playlist vs. deleting one?
• No plug-in support kills the use of many audio/video codecs I use. I'm not the biggest fan of converting since every conversion is unavoidably lossy. Regardless, I find myself converting…
• It is simple. I don't know if this is good or bad. But I find myself eerily calmed by the graphite face.
• The Music Store (for obvious reasons) is very powerful. Not for purchasing, but for the listeners also bought section. Lots of recommendations of bands I've never heard of; many that I should've!
• Podcasts are hot. I'm so Paris right now! We're just seeing the tip of what these and blogs are doing to the web and our perception of the web's possibilities!
• Individual song options: volume limiter, and equalizer. So nice.

I’m still learning new things about iTunes but so far it seems to be winning. I have to admit that I'm a fanboy for Mac's OSX Aqua Graphite theme. I've got ObjectDock and StyleXP giving me my fix until I can make up my mind of when I should purchase a PowerMac. But that and what podcasts I'm subscribing to are for another post.