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Frontrow Replacement??
- Thread starter b-rad g
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robbieduncan
Moderator emeritus
Frosticus
macrumors 6502a
I have tried Boxee, Plex and XMBC in preparation for this moment (and also I was toying with the idea of replacing my ATV2 with a Mac Mini)... in my opinion, none of them are as slick as the ATV or FrontRow interface - not that I'm saying those themselves are perfect (e.g. navigating huge video libraries).
So still waiting for a suitable replacement.
So still waiting for a suitable replacement.
iAmYou
macrumors 6502
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Please confirm. Front Row will function in SL using all versions of iTunes including 10.4 and subsequent releases, but will only function in Lion is appropriate SL files are copied AND iTunes is 10.3 and no higher?
iAmYou said:
Please confirm. Front Row will function in SL using all versions of iTunes including 10.4 and subsequent releases, but will only function in Lion is appropriate SL files are copied AND iTunes is 10.3 and no higher?
Front Row 2.2.1 (SL) still works under Lion with iTunes 10.4, but iTunes integration is lost. In other words, Front Row sees all your photos, movie trailers, iTunes top movies, etc., but it won't see your music. If you keep iTunes 10.3, Front Row will work exactly the same as it used under Snow Leopard.
When you say music, you also mean TV and Movies as well obviously? And as long as I stick with SL, iTunes updates won't impact Front Row? I didn't know if future updates for iTunes would be Lion only or if SL would continue to receive updates to be compatible with 5.0, etc. Front Row is my priority, so if I can stay with SL and have iTunes continue to update normally, that'd be ideal.
That's right. Everything included in your iTunes library, whose xml format has been altered after iTunes 10.4.
Front Row on Snow Leopard will lose its links to iTunes if you upgrade to iTunes 10.4. There's no incompatibility between Front Row and Lion. It works exactly the same as on Snow Leopard. The incompatibility is with iTunes 10.4 (whether on Lion or Snow Leopard) and Front Row.
If you don't upgrade to iTunes 10.4 (which brings full screen under Lion), Front Row will continue to work just fine under both Lion and Snow Leopard, and it will see your entire iTunes library if it's 10.3 or below.
I've just read about the existence of a purported "Front Row 2.3", which is related to AppleTV. I don't know for certain, because I don't have one and it's a long time since I last saw a demo. If AppleTV does some of the things Front Row does on a Mac, I suppose iTunes 10.4 must have broken AppleTV integration with the iTunes library. If so, I'm convinced that Apple will release a new software version (Front Row 2.4?) in a few days that perhaps can be used to tweak our copies of Front Row 2.2.1 so they'll run with iTunes 10.4. Another possibility would be for Apple to release a Front Row update for iTunes 10.4.
This will install Front Row on Lion, which will work fine with iTunes 10.3, but will lose its integration with iTunes 10.4 and above.
PS The above musings about iTunes 10.4 possibly breaking AppleTV integration are probably wrong. It appears AppleTV and iTunes have a radically different relationship with one another as compared to the one shared by iTunes and Front Row. In both cases, iTunes would work as a "server" of information, but, in the case of AppleTV, iTunes would be a very "active" server, whereas in the case of Front Row it would be a more passive one.
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