ITUNES 9 HAS a number of new features, such as iTunes LP (which tries to bring fullblown album art, liner notes, and so on), Home Sharing (which allows you to sync music across computers in your household), and the redesigned iTunes Store. With the addition of Home Sharing, iTunes finally gives you a way to sync music automatically among the computers in your home. Once you enable Home Sharing on your computer, you'll be able to access the iTunes library on any other Mac or Windows PC on your network. From there, you can play music from other computers and import music from them as well. But make sure that all your computers are on the same network, and activated with the same iTunes account. Still, Home Sharing is a welcome addition, and it beats manually copying and distributing music over several PCs.

iTunes 9 also sports an updated interface, but the changes are more than skindeep. The window chrome has a polished-metal-and glossy-plastic look. Beyond those cosmetic tweaks, Apple completely redesigned the iTunes Store, and it's a big improvement.

The new look is cleaner and more attractive - and easier to navigate, too. Though these new features make iTunes even stronger, you may find this version a little disappointing if you were hoping for a major revamp.

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