Thanks for the links. Very useful.
It would help if you or others who are more familiar with both iTunes and the reaction to the version 11 of it can summarize the most common problems that users have with it.
One of the first big uproars was no CoverFlow. They said most people didn't use it, though Apple is famous for not using test groups. What I don't understand is, they already had the code developed, and it was just one of many options for display. What advantage do they gain by dropping an established feature? CoverFlow remains as one of the standard views of the Finder, go figger.
The other one is lack of artwork display in non-selected songs. This may be a little esoteric for those not used to iTunes, but it really touched a nerve with those with large libraries, those that use iTunes as a library manager more than a media player.
I'm sure I don't represent a large % of the iTunes community, I certainly represent a group that can't wait to get a full featured library manager, not just something that feeds sales from the iTunes store.
My standard view is attached (I hope)
Below the pic is a down arrow which allows me to show or hide artwork display.
Above the pic is a title that allows me to view Selected Item or Currently Playing.
The only way I've discovered to display artwork in MC Mac is to actually play a song.
I think of iTunes as a library manager. When I'm importing a CD or a download, I'm usually listening to an iPod loaded with Apple Lossless through a pair of powered desktop speakers.
Please note that in this case, I'm actually playing a song through iTunes. But I'm also scrolling through recently added albums. I've selected Absolute Torch And Twang. In the lower left corner is a view of the artwork I've added. No slight rotation, no fake shadow at the bottom, no additional white space. Just exactly what I'd see on the front of that CD.
Another thing that iTunes does is allow me to double-click on the artwork in the lower left corner is to display it full size. And after a few seconds, it becomes kind of a "midi-player" that then displays the standard play controls, like volume, play, pause, forward, backward, etc.
(I previewed this and my attachment didn't show up. Let me know if you want to see it.)