iTunes Store and DRM-free music: What you need to know

Apple announced it would drop digital rights managements from all iTunes Store music—here's what you need to know to make sense of the news.

Expo: Apple introduces iLife '09Apple has introduced a new version of its iLife application suite, including iPhoto '09.
iTunes Store goes DRM-freeApple has re-encoded its iTunes Store catalog to offer 8 million songs without DRM; the remaining 2 million are expected to follow by the end of March.

Product	Score	Price
17-inch MacBook Pro/2.5GHz	249	$2,645.00
15-inch MacBook Pro/2.4GHz	215	$1,982.00
15-inch MacBook Pro/2.53GHz	231	$2,478.18
13-inch MacBook/2.0GHz	195	$1,249.95
13-inch MacBook/2.4GHz	212
13-inch MacBook/2.1GHz	180	$941.86
MacBook Air/1.86GHz	174	$2,488.00
MacBook Air/1.6GHz		$1,788.00

Product	Score	Price
24-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.8GHz	268	$1,721.15
Mac Pro/8-core 2.8GHz Xeon 5400	314	$2,594.57
20-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.4GHz	230	$1,147.09
20-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz	254	$1,434.12
Mac mini Core 2 Duo/1.83GHz	159	$559.99
Mac mini Core 2 Duo/2GHz	172	$777.77

Product	Score	Price
24-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.8GHz	268	$1,721.15
Mac Pro/8-core 2.8GHz Xeon 5400	314	$2,594.57
17-inch MacBook Pro/2.5GHz	249	$2,645.00
15-inch MacBook Pro/2.4GHz	215	$1,982.00
15-inch MacBook Pro/2.53GHz	231	$2,478.18
13-inch MacBook/2.0GHz	195	$1,249.95
13-inch MacBook/2.4GHz	212
20-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.4GHz	230	$1,147.09
20-inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2.66GHz	254	$1,434.12
Xserve (2.8GHz Quad-Core Xeon) (2008)
13-inch MacBook/2.1GHz	180	$941.86
Mac mini Core 2 Duo/1.83GHz	159	$559.99
Mac mini Core 2 Duo/2GHz	172	$777.77
MacBook Air/1.86GHz	174	$2,488.00
MacBook Air/1.6GHz		$1,788.00

Quickly reveal obscured desktop icons Learn how to quickly reveal icons that have been obscured after moving your dock to the side of the screen.
Sync multiple iPods to one Mac Using OS X's Shared user folder, you can shared one iTunes library with multiple users on one Mac.
Bugs & Fixes: Dealing with iCal and Entourage duplicates If you sync Entourage calendar appointments with your iPhone or MobileMe account, you might notice duplicate entries popping up. Ted Landau has a procedure for eradicating unwanted copies with a minimum of fuss.
The finer points of finding free images The Web provides small design firms and freelance designers without a $15,000 photo shoot budget the opportunity to download photos and vector illustrations as easily as the click of the mouse. James Dempsey looks at where to find images and what the cost of “free” graphics are.
10 Mac 911 resolutions 10 resolutions to live by in the upcoming year.

The history of the Mac, told by those who were there Rob Griffiths takes a look at Welcome to Macintosh, a feature-length film that examines the history of the Apple and the Mac by talking to those who were there.
The amazing vanishing Mac desktop machine Rob Griffiths laments the lack of any cool new hardware revelations in the Macworld Expo 2009 keynote.
Upgrading to iTunes Plus: Why the hassle? Excited about Tuesday’s news that all the tracks in the iTunes Store will soon be DRM-free? It would be more exciting if upgrading your existing library to DRM-free tracks wasn’t such a hassle, Kirk McElhearn contends.
Opinion: Skipping another serving of Toast Toast 10 was announced, but is the upgrade cost justified?
2009 Predictions: our annual forecast of the year ahead With a new year upon us, it's time for our experts to predict what that year will bring Mac users and the Apple market. Andy Ihnatko, Adam Engst, John Moltz, and Dans Frakes and Moren chime in with their prognostications.