Musicmatch isn't quite ready to give up its ties to the iPod.
On Monday, the San Diego-based music software company sent an e-mail to its customers letting them know that, despite the arrival of Apple Computer's iTunes for Windows, customers can still use its jukebox program to connect to Apple's iPod. However, the message warns them that if they install iTunes, Musicmatch's connection to the iPod will be severed. "As a valued Musicmatch customer and iPod user, we want to alert you to a serious software conflict caused by iTunes for Windows," the company said in the e-mail. "Apple iTunes for Windows prevents Musicmatch Jukebox from working with the iPod by deleting critical files used by Musicmatch."
The software maker goes on to offer detailed instructions on how customers can uninstall iTunes and resume using Musicmatch. The e-mail is in response to Apple's move to supplant Musicmatch with its own iTunes software, which it released last month. Upon installing iTunes, customers are no longer able to synchronize their iPods with Musicmatch. Apple and Musicmatch were partners when the Mac maker first took the iPod to Windows, using Musicmatch's jukebox software to synchronize with the music player device. Not long thereafter, Apple revealed plans to adapt iTunes for Microsoft's Windows operating system. "Once they said we are going to be developing iTunes for Windows, we knew that we would be competing with them," Musicmatch spokeswoman Jennifer Roberts said. However, Roberts said the company did not expect that Apple would unilaterally disconnect its software from the iPod.
News source: C|Net News.com
