I feel like this is largely Apple realizing that their iPhone, iPad, and even Mac customers sometimes need to use Windows.

Given this also went along with an iCloud for Windows redesign.

Instead of them fighting Windows, make the experience slightly better for their customers which really just helps keep them in your Ecosystem, just slightly expanded.

I do, although I use an older version. I used it to play the local music files I've accumulated over the years (I don't always sub for spotify and it doesn't actually have a lot of that stuff anyway).

Even on win10, windows media player is still garbage. iTunes has the column browser which, although disabled by default, is superior for navigation. Its also better for editing file metadata and managing playlists. You can automate iTunes via COM and I have my own command line music player program that uses this, to get playlists and similar metadata.

I think the Windows client will live as long as the iTunes Store.

Which I was sort of more confident about when it seemed to just be in a forgotten corner of Apple somewhere just ticking along. Now it's clear someone has come up with a strategy™, I think there's more risk they might screw with both to push people into subscription services, and I can't help but see an iTunes Store shutdown as being the beginning of the end for digital music sales.

I use it for local backups of iOS devices, not for music.

Every iPhone user that needed recover mode, or downloaded file to device sync, or needed some other software that requires the iTunes drivers.

iPhone/iPad is a gateway to the Apple ecosystem. If a Windows users couldn't share their media with their phone, they may never buy any Apple hardware at all.

Yeah if you're a creative professional you often have a Macbook for web, presentations, comms, coding, photoshopping, design then a PC for video editing, AI and 3D.