[men$an]

hey there all, long time reader, first time poster.

i have a windows machine that i game and work on and linux box for a file server, etc.

anyhow, i am contemplating a new tibook when they come out, and also an iPod.

here is my question: which iPod should i get? the windows or mac version? i would be getting a 10GB model, but wanted to make sure that whatever i got would work with both my win machine and the powerbook. also, i wouldnt want to change my default mp3 player on my win machine (/me hugs winamp).

i guess this can be boiled down to: can i use a mac iPod on my win machine with 3rd party software? or can i use 3rd party software with a windows iPod and also have it work on the powerbook?


anyway i am sure that this is much more complex than it should be, but thanks for the advice in advance.

[SupahCoolX]

A Windows PC can use a Mac iPod with the XPlay software (you should be able to find it on www.versiontracker.com ).
I believe a Mac can use both Windows and Mac iPods, but I'm not totally certain on that point.

[men$an]

thanks man. i'll check it out!

[Miniryu]

If you have to choose between the two, I would suggest gettin the Mac version. iPod was designed to sync effortlessly with iTunes, and this feature will continue to be supported for a long time by Apple. The PC iPod works with MJ, but I don't imagine that it is quite as easy and efficient.

[solvent211]

I too think the mac iPod is the way to go as you're planning to go with a Ti at the same time.

Although I've currently got an iBook, my daily work computer is still a WinXP PC (looking to replace it with a PowerMac someday soon). I've got a Linux box that houses serving up my mp3 collection; files are shared via Samba with the PC and an Audiotron. I'm currently using EphPod + MacOpener on the PC to sync up my mac iPod. Ephod is free, but MacOpener will cost you (I believe you can also use MediaFour's MacDrive if you've already got it, instead.)

Also, if you purchase a mac iPod (using HFS+) and find yourself wishing for a win iPod (using FAT32), there are 3rd party tools to do the conversion. (For example iPod-on-Linux (which also uses FAT32).