iTunes Store is the largest multimedia content store on the globe and Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), gives access to it to iDevice owners, Mac owners and PC owners running Windows OS. Apple has made it a rule not to provide access to iTunes owners of mobile terminals running Android OS, Windows Phone OS, or Windows 8 Metro and maintains it regardless of the circumstances. Although others tried unsuccessfully to convince Apple that it is wrong, Microsoft make a new attempt and hopes that Apple will release an iTunes mobile application for Windows 8 Metro that runs on the Surface tablets released last year.
You shouldn't expect an iTunes app on Windows 8 any time soon," said Tami Reller, chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows division. "iTunes is in high demand. The welcome mat has been laid out. It's not for lack of trying." Windows 8 users can still get iTunes, but they can only use it in "desktop" mode — the traditional PC interface that works far better with a keyboard and mouse than on a touchscreen. That means the growing number of Windows tablet users are getting a less-than-ideal iTunes experience — or can't download iTunes at all, if they're using the Surface RT, which doesn't run non-Microsoft desktop software.
Basically, owners of Surface tablets can access the desktop version of iTunes, but without a keyboard and a mouse they have great problems controlling the displayed content, and Apple is not willing to solve the problem in any way. Apple has always said that the mobile experience of iTunes can only be found in its iDevices, and the rest of the users can use the programs for Windows or Mac to buy content and transfer it to their own terminals. Although Apple can access a very large market of consumers who do not own iDevices, the company still prefers to maintain its strategy which has so far not proven to be wrong.
