ITunes 8: The Missing Preferences

Question

Whether Apple puts them back in a patch (/cheer), leaves them obfuscated (/scowl), or eventually removes them from the app altogether (/cry), here's a compilation of the missing preferences that can be added back to the plist via the terminal:
*Play songs while importing or converting*
+defaults write com.apple.iTunes play-songs-while-importing -bool TRUE+
*Show genre when browsing*
+defaults write com.apple.iTunes show-genre-when-browsing -bool FALSE+
*Show links to the iTunes Store*
+defaults write com.apple.iTunes show-store-arrow-links -bool FALSE+
*Create filenames with track number*
+defaults write com.apple.iTunes create-filenames-with-tracknumber -bool FALSE+

Answer 1

rockstar2484 wrote:
Is Terminal user-friendly for someone who knows nothing about it?
No, which is why Apple buries it in your Utilities folder where it is out of sight, out of mind for those that have no need for it (read: most Mac users). Terminal is actually an application that simulates a dumb terminal to give you access to the FreeBSD UNIX core of OS X. Like any UNIX variant, OS X’s UNIX core is controlled through a command line interface (CLI), where you type in commands to perform operations, navigate and manage your drives, execute software, etc. (I prefer X11 over Terminal because it allows me to do graphics; Terminal is strictly a text-based application.)
Where performing the iTunes preference hacks are concerned, Terminal is easy enough for anyone to use. The people that post the hacks usually provide you with the exact command that you need to enter as well as any explicit instructions you may need if it is not a matter of just entering a single command.
The iTunes preference hacks all utilize the ‘defaults’ command, so all you have to do is quit iTunes, launch Terminal, type in the commands for the hidden preferences you wish to set exactly as they are shown (UNIX is case-sensitive, thus defaults *is not* the same as Defaults), then re-launch iTunes where you should see that the preference(s) have taken.