...analize and list why Puma won't even be close to a contender, no matter how hard it tries.

Oh, never mind....

Here's one for starters: "The author hopes to have a working version of Puma available for Mac OS X in the near future."

Here's another one: "My other projects include Kings of Chaos and King Tuner, both massively-multiplayer browser based strategy games with tens of thousands of players."

Let's not even mention that there's no iPod support (let me guess, the author doesn't own an iPod because he feels it's badly designed), no AAC or MP4 support, and how truly horrible that interface is - I mean, the kid obviously is a Windows user. 'nuff said.

Ok, so this guys vision of "how it should be" is absolutely the worst interface I have ever seen...bar none, period. And what design school does this guy attend? Stay far far away from that place if this is what their student's are churning out.

Wow, I think I need to change my shorts. I think I just wet myself laughing so hard at that "iTunes killer". That is horrible. This player/developer reminds me of an "American Idol" reject. You know the type, the one that thinks they are great, but you sit there asking yourself how this person could even think they had a chance, or are any good. Even the site for this player looks like c***.

Looks like what you expect from an open-source project. Release number in the low .3's, and probably never will reach 1.0 (h***, I'm amazed at some of that OSS software out there, years in the making, and barely getting to 0.8, its like, hey, guys, you ever heard of setting a reasonable initial release point and doing updates?).

A windows browser is so, what's the word....useful? No, that's not it. Useless? Yeah, that's closer. You have music. You want your music player to manage the music. You shouldn't need a browser to find it. Add it to the library, there you go. It knows where it is, whether it be on C, D, or F.

And, despite the comment by the programmer, iTunes doesn't have the best interface (esp. on Windows, where its one big interface mistake), nor do all the other players have the same interface. h***, WMP has a completely different interface (and a crappy one at that, but still better then this!). But that's OK, because, like another poster said, I'm sure they're going to be putting tons of effort into the most important feature that most people apparently demand - skins and visual effects.

So, is it going to prompt me every other week that there's a new version available for download, like itunes does? And is it going to require me to install it if I just want to install Java on my computer, just like how you need to install iTunes to get Quicktime for windows?

Hey, but at least they tell you how you can put that Puma logo on your web pages and blogs so you can spread the word! Its like sweeping the nation!

...and less-than-one-point-O version of some OSS Windows software is Mac/iPod NEWS how?

Are you guys maybe losing focus?

This guy makes open source look bad. There are a lot of great pieces of software that are open source and more coming that many users will find they can do everything they need to and more with. This particular player is so ugly though I think they beat Windows Vista in ugliness. Amarok is pretty ugly too, but nothing beats Puma in this department. I don't know how I can try it as I only have a PPC Mac Mini and a PC that came with Linux. I can tell you from my experiences with Windows and Java that this will be a very painful program to use, not just looking at it.

After I made my post, I was concerned that my comments might have been a little harsh. However, they were nothing compared to the tactless critism that followed from other commenters. Come on guys! There is a real person, with real feelings, who has worked real hours to try to accomplish something here. We should at least respect that and provide helpful direction rather then mean-spirited comments. Most likely he is just a kid trying the best he can, and I'd have to say that on the whole, compared to 99% of the population, he has made a good start of it. It would behove all of us to remember that how you say something is a least as important as what you say. I know we all take refuge our reputations as geeks with no social skills, however that is wearing pretty thin these days. One doesn't have to be Leticia Baldrige to know when something coming out of your mouth is going to hurt someone.

It can't be an iTunes killer if it doesn't run on the Mac. It's a Java application, but it only runs on Windows... huh?? Even if they do get it up and running on the Mac, Java apps are slower than native ones... why use it?

And of course, if it doesn't play iTMS files...

Umm, is it April Fools Day all over again? This is garbage... this isn't even newsworthy. I'd rather use WMP over this c***!

Oh, no, lookout iTunes! A bloated Java program is going to dethrone you!

Gimme a break!

The apparent reasons for the development of Puma centre around the need to work on a library of music whilst simultaneously manipulating the currently playing playlist.

I guess opening two iTunes windows is too tricky?

Summary

Quote :" iTunes is a wonderful media player, with a beautiful interface and powerful management features. I love how it can organize my music library. I love the powerful sharing. I love how integral ID3 tags are."

Quote :" Just look at the puma interface, as a whole, it is nothing like what is out there. It's not an iTunes clone, it doesn't want to be."

The program claims to be innovative but actually when one looks at the screenshots, one can see it's pay reverence to Windows with its ways of a folder tree. Sorry...not an iTunes killer.

Like everybody who has tried to out-do Apple on this....

By the time they get even close to going prime-time, Apple will leap frog everything out there in capabilities and design. AND they continue to keep things similar enough that the familiarity of the user interface keeps people coming back again and again.

These people just don't get it. Don't start a foot race when your competition is stronger and faster and half way around the track! Go start another race! It just kills me that a company like Creative tries to copy Apple. C'mon, your name is Creative, be creative! As for everybody else, take the same advice!

This article was a waste of time. Open source... LOL!!! It doesn't even run on Linux or Mac AND IT'S JAVA!? Wow... I'm disappointed in Macnn for running this.