Apple Slaps A Fresh Coat Of Paint On iTunes, Front Row

iTunes 8.1, take a bow.

On Wednesday, Apple unveiled the newest version of their jukebox/media player/iDevice mission control. 

"[iTunes] is now faster and more responsive. You will enjoy
noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the
iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone, and optimizing
photos for syncing." 

So after downloading over 65 MB of code, whattaya get?

• Support for syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation).

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• Friends can request songs for iTunes DJ.

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• A new Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows.

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• Improved performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs.

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• AutoFill for manually managed iPods.

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• CDs can now be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus.

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• Accessibility improvements.

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• The ability to separately disable iTunes U and the iTunes Store using Parental Controls.
• And a couple of security updates.

And in "oh, by the way" news, Apple also unveiled Update 2.1.7 of Front Row.  So unless you're a Macintosh user — keep moving, nothing to see here…