Apple pushing the MiniStore with iTunes 7

This is silly. I actually prefer an uncluttered UI. I turn it off once and it's off. No need for an ever-present button that never gets used. I feel that this is what Apple was thinking when they made this decision.

But conspiracy theories are fun, aren't they?

iTunes 7 has become from a music player and organizer to a music *buyer* and organizer.

No more visualizer and equalizer buttons.
No more Show iTunes Store checkbox in Preferences (I found it later under Parental Controls).

In Windows, if you dare to delete the iTunes section in your Start menu, iTunes will recreate it and stick an iTunes icon on your desktop.

I remember those old iTunes ads with nice visualizations and the Apple logo in the middle.

:-(

For my iTunes 7 installs, the ministore appeared, though I had it off in iTunes 6, and it was still set to 'off' in iTunes 7.

I found that you can GET RID of the mini store window if you turn the mini store ON, then turn it OFF again.

The middle east is in flames and we're worrying about a button?!?

When I upgraded to iTunes 6, I got a dialog asking me if I wanted to enable the Mini Store, and warning me that it would send information to Apple if I did. I chose not to. The Mini Store hasn't bothered me since.

You could just as easily say that removing the button actually _reduces_ the visibility of the Mini Store, because once you've made that initial, prompted decision to disable it, there's no easy button to turn it back on again.

Apple obviously decided that the Mini Store was an 'on or off' thing - you either had it on all the time, or you had it disabled all the time - and was thus not worthy of having a prominent button.

It seems that most people are missing what alex already pointed out. Apple didn't "remove the instructional piece" as David Chartier claims. It is right there at the end of the second paragraph explaining the MiniStore. If the lack of a cartoon arrow really prevents people from understanding the directions, then I'd say the MiniStore is the least of their worries.

The Earth would truly orbit better if iTunes users would just look at each of the Menu commands (like the View Menu) and read the Keyboard Shortcuts under the Help menu.

this is just a question, not a complaint, but little cousin accidently turned on the ministore, but now I have no idea how to turn it off does anyone know?

"The point is that users who will never go looking for the option to turn it off nor bother to read the instructions now have a mini store at the bottom of their itunes."

Well, if they can't be bothered to read instructions, how is that Apple's fault?

I can't see what the hue and cry is about. Now, if there wasn't an option AT ALL to switch it off, I could understand why everyone's getting upset. I noticed that the button wasn't there any more and immediately went to the View menu (where you'd expect it to be) found it immediately.

I wish they hadn't gotten rid of the visualizer and equalizer buttons down there, those two where very useful buttons... That said, who cares about the ministore, you turn it off once and never pay attention to it again.