iTunes 12.10.11.2 won't download podcasts any more

RonCaspi wrote:

Can't the mighty Apple release an update to this software that would still run on Windows 7, but be able to handle the current URL format? Seems pretty simple, and this would solve this serious issue that all Windows 7 users are suffering from.

I don't know whether it is technically possible to update that old iTunes just for a few Windows 7 users or not, but Apple have apparently chosen not to. Perhaps Apple know exactly how few users still use Windows 7 and have decided that it's not worth it.

Apple do not allow us to discuss their reasoning on subjects like this, but I think it's safe enough ground to point out that you're asking Apple to support a Windows platform that Microsoft no longer support.

There's little to be gained by a prolonged discussion with me about this. Apple have made their decision and they are not going to let anyone here spend a lot of time moaning about it. I'm pretty sure they've done their homework.

In the meantime, all I've tried to do here (for your benefit) is to give you an insight in to why Apple have made their decision, but without upsetting Apple along the way. I'll also add at this time that as far as I know Windows 7 no longer receives security updates.

But thank you for the link to your research page. What it actually states is that there are an estimated 200 million users (200,000,000) of earlier Windows versions, of which most are reported to be Windows 7. If we ignore the fact that your figure includes people using even earlier versions of Windows, that leaves approximately 1.4 billion users of Windows 10 or Windows 11. That's 1,400,000,000. So Windows 7 must be fewer than 15% of the number of Windows 10 and 11 users.

One also needs to take into account that many users will be using an Apple computer, which uses Mac OS (and a non-Windows version of iTunes) to download Podcasts. Then consider the number of users who don't even use iTunes anymore. Instead they download Podcasts directly to their Apple device, either by Apple's Podcast app or by a third-party app.

Plus the number of podcast fans who use an Android phone or tablet.

If you follow a link on the page you highlighted, to https://earthweb.com/operating-system-market-share/ you will see that it states that in 2021 Windows 7 had 100 million users. (The other 100 million must be using even earlier Windows versions.)