The most important thing to understand about iTunes, that is not necessarily apparent, is that there are several main windows. When you start the main program you will be at the iTunes window and will see iTunes at the main title bar at the top of the screen. This is the area where you can see your library of songs, podcasts, playlists, and other iTunes assets.

The other main window is the Music Store where you can purchase music and also download free podcasts. To get to the Music Store, click on Music Store from the left menu of the iTunes main window.

If you are interested in podcasts, click on Podcasts from the left menu. You will then see an entire screen of choices. Each of these is a podcast that you can subscribe to. The middle has podcasts listed by topics. The right menu lists the top podcasts. There are hundreds of podcasts to choose from. You will find everything from news to trivia.

Click on any podcast to see the currently listed episodes. You can then listen to any episode and/or click on the subscribe button. If you click on subscribe, every future episode will be automatically recorded on your computer as it becomes available. You can click on the update button on the top right of the screen to update your podcasts manually.

If you know the URL of the podcast you want to listen to you can add it without searching. Just click on Advanced, then Subscribe to Podcast. Enter the URL and click  Okay. The URL for my Tech for Boomers Podcast is www.compukiss.com/podcast/feed.xml .

If you have an iPod, you can then plug your music player to your computer and all of the podcasts that you subscribe to will be automatically transferred to your music player for you to listen to where ever you go.

To see the selection of podcasts that you have subscribed to simply click on Podcasts from the left menu of the iTunes screen. If you are at the Music Store simply close the Music Store windows and the iTunes window will be beneath it.