iTunes Download for Windows XP

Support for Windows XP (and Vista) was dropped when Apple released iTunes 12.2 last year. The latest (and almost certainly last) version to support XP is 12.1.3.6 - this is an out-of-sequence release from September 2015 that adds support for iOS 9 devices but lacks Apple Music and other features added in iTunes 12.2 and 12.3. Links to the installer:

iTunes 12.1.3.6 for Windows XP SP3, 32-bit: iTunesSetup.exe

This is, however, not going to be a long term solution as its highly unlikely that Apple will issue any further updates to support new releases of iOS on ancient Microsoft OSs. Any PC running Windows XP is likely to be have exceeded its expected operational life and (even setting aside the vulnerabilities to viruses and other malware) is going to be prone to major hardware failures - hard drives and power supplies in particular.

I object to hhgttg27's adjective "ancient" since XP and Vista are 21st-century operating systems, in fact my Vista PC is only 8 years old. Nevertheless, you should avoid Apple mobile devices because the support for iOS 9 is lousy, the latest iPhone SE cannot be supported at all, and iOS 10 should be released in about 5 months, meaning "game over." I can't really recommend a new platform, since Windows 10 users are reporting serious problems with Apple's latest bloatware, and the latest Mac OS has earned the nickname "El Crapitan." But if you just want playback software, try VLC.

"The above iTunes download link resulted in an error"

What was the error message?

I find Microsoft's decisions to end support and updates for Windows XP confusing"

This is hardly the place to discuss Microsoft's support policy but each edition of Windows has a defined end-of-life date. In the case of XP we're talking about a product that is five generations old - to continue support for XP would cost money and dilute resources available to support more recent OSs.

"We do not want to have to pay high money for a new PC when the PC that we have is fully workable computer."

As previously noted, a PC that's more than 8 years old is increasingly susceptible to serious hardware failures. New PCs meeting your needs don't cost a lot - neither my primary home system (Dell micro desktop) or my personal laptop (HP Stream 13) cost much more than $200.

"I wanted to download iTunes and Apple Music for listening to music."

While there are alternatives to iTunes as generic music players, I'm not aware of any that support Apple Music. Apple Music requires iTunes 12.2 or later which in turn require Windows 7 or later.

"Windows 10 users are reporting serious problems with Apple's products"

Personally I've had no issues with iTunes on Windows 10, or heard of any encountered by family members / friends / co-workers, and based on evidence from here and elsewhere I've no reason to think that users encounter more issues with Windows 10 than they have with previous editions of Windows.

See if this link works. It is right from the support downloads page. Download iTunes 12.1.3 for Windows (32 bit)

You may object to ancient, but besides outliving its regular cycle, support for XP was dropped 2 years ago. While I agree it was stable, it carries too much risk. Many other things to not support XP or Vista. I'm surprised you are still using Vista too. I used it for years, but most people complained about it, since it was the starting point for Microsoft to require user interactions and check off for installation and changes to the operating system. Notwithstanding, 8 years in computer time is considered ancient. And I say this as a computer and Microsoft instructor in college.

I am definitely not interested in your opinion of Vista.

Thousands of people are buying expensive Apple gadgets only to find that they cannot be backed up or synced because Apple's bloatware no longer supports their operating system. In many cases they soon buy a Windows 10 PC, only to discover that iTunes is a troublesome piece of bloatware even on the latest Windows platform. My only concern was that Aisling8 might become Apple's latest victim. As hhgttg27 has explained, Apple Music is not available with any iTunes version that can be installed on Windows XP, so hopefully Aisling8 will explore other options for listening to music.