In an interview with CNN Money, Microsoft chief financial officer Tami Reller said that Microsoft has talked to Apple about creating an iTunes app for Windows 8, but that users shouldn't expect it to arrive anytime soon.
"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."
Currently, iTunes 11 is available for Windows 8's "Desktop" mode, which is a traditional PC interface within Windows 8 that works well with a keyboard and mouse. Microsoft, however, wants Apple to create an iTunes app for what was once known as its "Metro" interface, which features flat, colorful blocks optimized for touchscreen devices.
Windows 8 "Metro" start screen
CNN Money notes that Windows tablet users are likely the ones who are requesting an iTunes app for the operating system, as well as users looking through Microsoft's app store within Windows 8. However, the report also note that Apple is unlikely to fulfill Microsoft's request because "there's no reason for Apple to help make the Surface a better product."
Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
Wednesday March 18, 2026 11:56 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, which means we're going to see a public launch as soon as next week. The RC versions of the software include Apple's official release notes, giving us final details on what's included in the update.
Apple Music
- Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your...
Apple has unveiled a whopping eight new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, and now the AirPods Max 2 this week.
iPhone 17e features the same overall design as the iPhone...
I use it. Best Windows OS I have ever used. People just need to get over the change and actually learn how it works. It is then, you realise it is probably one of the best OSs around.
That doesn't mean it doesn't need improvements though. Some things are questionable but they should be cleaned up in Windows 8.1.
Le Sigh - iTunes already works on Windows 8. The issue that is being asked is about a native (see ModernUI) iTunes for Windows 8 - I don't see it happening because Apple wants to maintain a consistent look and feel across Windows and Mac OS X as well as maintaining their own unique Apple branding when on Windows rather than it being subsumed into Windows 8 to the point that it loses its identity.
If the bigger point was Microsoft wanting iTunes on Windows RT (and thus needs to be using WinRT) then maybe Microsoft should provide the ability for application developers to write desktop applications using WinRT/XAML and then deploy it on Windows RT to be run in a desktop environment. Microsoft needs to realise that ModernUI isn't the be all or end all thus not always relevant to every software title.
Btw, anyone see the local IT rags raving about how "Apple is behind Microsoft" because Apple wasn't stupid enough to do the suicidal move of merging their tablet and desktop operating system together like what Microsoft has done with Windows 8? I really have to ask how the heck some of these so-called journalists get their job because I almost vomited in my mouth hearing someone defend such a horrible decision by Microsoft to merge two different devices operating systems into one then explain away claiming that a touch screen is useful of a desktop.
btw, if I was Apple I'd say, "sure, we'll do an iTunes in the ModernUI and in return we want you to do give us a feature complete version of Office that is feature for feature equal to the Windows version and not the half ass half baked crap being sold today".
In an interview with CNN Money, Microsoft chief financial officer Tami Reller said that Microsoft has talked to Apple about creating an iTunes app for Windows 8, but that users shouldn't expect it to arrive anytime soon.
