Change sucks! Right? We know that's going through the heads of many people who just downloaded iTunes 11. The reality is that change is often great, but there is one thing we immediately missed in the new version of iTunes, and that's the sidebar. Fortunately, turning it back on is easy peasy.
First, let's look at iTunes 11 without the sidebar:
iTunes 11 in “Songs” View, Sorted by Artist
(Click the image for a larger version)
Note that our test system may show more or different columns than yours, but what you see in this screenshot is our iTunes 11 music library in “Songs” view, sorted by artist. The major difference from prior versions of iTunes is the lack of the sidebar that gave you quick access to all of your content.
Don't worry, it's still available! We just have to turn it on. To do so, go to the View menu and choose “Show Sidebar,” as shown in the image below:
View -> Show Sidebar
When you do so, you'll get this:
iTunes 11 in “Songs” View, Sorted by Artist with the Sidebar On
(Click the image for a larger view)
Here's what it looks like in “Artists” view:
iTunes 11 in “Artists” View with the Sidebar On
(Click the image for a larger version)
Wait, what's that at the bottom, you ask? That's the status bar. It turns out that's still available, too, and it's just as easy to turn back on. Just go to the View menu again, and choose “Show Status Bar.”
View -> Show Status Bar
And there you go! Restoring some handy-dandy usability in iTunes 11 with a couple of clicks makes for a good day.