Personally since the PlaysForSure products are much cheaper, and gives you
alot more flex then apple's choice. I would recommend not using the iPod.

"John Shaw" <john_g_shaw@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:uXgtlNpxFHA.1412@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> iPod/iTunes support:
> AAC (16 to 320 Kbps)
> Protected AAC (from iTunes Music Store)
> MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps)
> MP3 VBR
> Audible (formats 2, 3 and 4)
> Apple Lossless
> WAV
> AIFF
>
> Here's the dilemma with ANY of these gizmos:
> If you use iTunes store, you have to use the iPod (or convert the media to
> unprotected format)...
> If you use MSN Music Store, you have to use something that supports WM DRM
> (or, again, convert the media to unprotected).
> Same goes with the Real Music store...
>
> There still isn't any "across the board" standard that's used.
>
> I've used iTunes Music store, MSN Music, and the Real Music store (the per
> song purchase feature, not Rhapsody). They all seem to have pretty much
> the
> same catalog, with a few exceptions here or there. Songs I could not find
> at iTunes, I couldn't find at the other ones either (most likely because
> the
> artist and/or label is not offering it).
>
> In my situation:
> I use a Palm device that directly supports Real's purchased music (using
> RealPlayer for Palm), and MSN Music Store DRM (using Pocket Tunes for the
> Palm). I purchased a couple songs from iTunes...and of course, I had to
> convert them. When I found that these 3 services had pretty much the same
> content, I ditched using iTunes and Real, because, in my situation, my
> Palm
> (using Pocket Tunes) had the best overall "ease of use" for me.
>
> In YOUR situation:
> To make it easy on yourself, is to stick with a similar one-stop-shopping
> method. The best option (for ease of use) for an iPod is still to use
> iTunes and iTunes music store. Based on Apple's tradition of locking down
> their technology, I don't expect too see full integration of the iPod with
> any other music store in the near future.
>
> If you have WM files purchased at MSN Music, you can do the following:
> 1. Burn any/all of the WM files to Audio CD format (not data format).
> 2. Rip the Audio CD using iTunes.
> 3. Use iTunes going forward.
>
> If you're hard pressed to use WMP and MSNMusic, then your other option, as
> mentioned before, is to ditch the iPod and go with a different device.
>
> Your last option is to keep using MSN Music with the iPod, but then you'd
> have to do an Audio CD Burn / Rip to get rid of the DRMs so you can play
> them on the iPod.
>
>
> "JoeM" <joem83@msn.com> wrote in message
> news:OQ8nN0TwFHA.3588@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>> The best solution is to get rid of the ipod(it can not play WMA files) or
>> any plays for sure stores.
>> Apple's iPod can only play the songs you download from their store.
>>
>> Best soluton get a 40G creative for $250.
>>
>> "jah" <jah@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:9E11F9C4-6226-42D8-BA03-4FA3BE638E33@microsoft.com...
>>> What's the deal with the WMA files. Apparently they cannot be played on
>>> an
>>> iPod. They have to be converted first.
>>>
>>> Should I just stop buying songs off of MSNmusic or is there a better
>>> solution?
>>
>>
>
>
>