Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

iTunes 12.2 Not working for Vista!

Hi! I recently upgraded my iPhone 4S to iOS 8.4, and I so far am very pleased with Apple Music. I didn't even know it was coming out on iTunes, I thought it was on the devices only. I am very confused though because I have downloaded iTunes 12.2 for my Vista computer [Service Pack 2], but it tells me I need Windows 7 or later, even though it specifically states 12.2 is avaliable for Windows. I have uninstalled 12.1.2, and tried that too. Still didn't work. I had to reinstall it from the Australian site, since it wasn't on the US one anymore. I have a 32-bit Vista, not 64-bit Vista. Can someone please help me? I'd really like to use Apple Music on the desktop (my screen is too small on my phone to view it all the time). Thanks so much!

iTunes 12.2-OTHER, Windows Vista, null

Posted on Jun 30, 2015 6:28 PM

Reply
22 replies

Jul 1, 2015 3:04 PM in response to cobraeyes

Hi cobraeyes,


Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!


I am really glad to hear that you are enjoying Apple Music on your iPhone and understand that you would like to experience Apple Music on your Windows Vista computer as well.


As you know, Apple Music was made available in iTunes 12.2.0, but this version of iTunes is not compatible with the operating system on your computer. Windows 7 or later is required to run iTunes 12.2.0. For reference, the system requirements for Windows are shown below.


Apple - iTunes - Download iTunes Now


Windows System Requirements

  • PC with a 1GHz Intel or AMD processor with support for SSE2 and 512MB of RAM
  • To play Standard Definition video from the iTunes Store, an Intel Pentium D or faster processor, 512MB of RAM, and a DirectX 9.0-compatible video card is required.
  • To play 720p HD video, an iTunes LP, or iTunes Extras, a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor, 1GB of RAM, and an Intel GMA X3000, ATI Radeon X1300, or NVIDIA GeForce 6150 or better is required.
  • To play 1080p HD video, a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor, 2GB of RAM, and an Intel GMA X4500HD; ATI Radeon HD 2400; Nvidia GeForce 8300 GS or better is required.
  • Screen resolution of 1024x768 or greater; 1280x800 or greater is required to play an iTunes LP or iTunes Extras
  • 16-bit sound card and speakers
  • Broadband Internet connection to use Apple Music, the iTunes Store, and iTunes Extras
  • iTunes-compatible CD or DVD recorder to create audio CDs, MP3 CDs, or back-up CDs or DVDs. Songs from the Apple Music catalog cannot be burned to a CD.

  • Windows 7 or later
  • 64-bit editions of Windows 7 and Windows 8 require the iTunes 64-bit installer; for more information, visit www.itunes.com/download
  • 400MB of available disk space
  • Screen reader support requires Window-Eyes 7.2 or later; for information about accessibility in iTunes, visit www.apple.com/accessibility
  • iTunes is now a 64-bit application on 64-bit versions of Windows 8 and 7. Some third-party visualizers may no longer be compatible with this version of iTunes. Please contact the developer for an updated visualizer that is compatible with iTunes 12.1 or later
  • Apple Music, Apple Music Radio, iTunes in the Cloud, and iTunes Match availability may vary by country


I realize as well that you uninstalled the 32-bit version of iTunes 12.1.2, but it seems like you were able to re-download it. However, if you still need to install the latest compatible version of iTunes on your Windows computer running Vista, please use the link below to do so.


iTunes 12.1.2 for Windows (32 bit)


Best regards,

Joe

Jul 6, 2015 6:41 AM in response to torakaru

"Why did they not wait until a major upgrade (as iTunes v13?)?"


The addition of support for Apple Music does make it a major upgrade, irrespective of how its labeled. It is possible that some of the services required to access Apple Music don't exist in XP and Vista. I would assume that Apple may be reserving "iTunes 13" for an update to coincide with the release of iOS 9.

Jul 9, 2015 4:35 AM in response to hhgttg27

Nah, that an absolute crock o'youknowhat... NOTHING in iTunes 12.2 is likely to even remotely REQUIRE anything that Vista or XP couldn't do or wasn't accomplished just fine in 12.1. For all the hype. Beats is nothing but a radio station add-on!!! BFD?!? If for some bizarre reason iTunes does require Win 7 or above for a particularly important reason, then that's simply lazy programming and iTunes is increasingly becoming buggy bloatware. I don't need Beats Radio, I don't even care if I have it. But, Apple should have made it an independent app and left the functionality of iTunes out of it! There is no need for the radio functionality to be integrated into iTunes anymore than they should have likewise forced GarageBand to be kludged into it because after all that's music, right?!?

Sep 16, 2015 12:33 PM in response to BEAST56

There's a new wrinkle to this problem now....today, my phone updated itself to iOS 9 through iTunes. As soon as the update finished and the phone tried to reconnect to iTunes, iTunes popped up an error window saying that the phone can't be accessed because it requires iTunes 12.2.2 or later. Yet, as pointed out earlier in this thread, iTunes won't allow that version to install on Windows Vista (which by the way is still a fully supported OS by Microsoft!) So Apple has now locked me out of using iTunes at all, as their latest iOS update requires a version of iTunes that Apple says (for whatever reason) isn't compatible with my Windows Vista OS.


This is unacceptable. I can certainly see running into issues like this if I was running something totally outdated, like Windows 95, or Windows ME. But Vista is still a fully supported, and pretty widely used, OS and leaving me with no option but to update the OS just to continue using the phone and iTunes combination is pretty poor design.

Sep 16, 2015 12:49 PM in response to Morbius

"Windows Vista ... is still a fully supported OS by Microsoft!"


Not exactly ... Microsoft uses the terms "mainstream support" and "extended support", where the latter covers a minimum of bug fixes and security patches. Vista reached end of mainstream support in April 2012 and will leave extended support in April 2017.


"Vista is ... pretty widely used"


No. Less than 2% of the market - there are actually more than five times as many PCs still running XP as Vista. You should also note than any machine running Vista is almost certainly six years old or more, and therefore at or beyond the point where hardware failures (particularly of hard drives and power supplies) becomes much more likely.

iTunes 12.2 Not working for Vista!

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.