windows media player

[kick_awesome]

I got an ipod for christmas and my step dad thinks that I can get all my music off of windows media player, but it's not working. I was wondering if you can only use Itunes with an ipod or if there is some special way to use any program.

[Screengem0531]

The iPod is designed to work with iTunes and not other programs. You use iTunes to put music on, and delete music off of it. You can't move songs from the iPod to the computer for piracy reasons. You must use 3rd party software to get your music off. Check out www.versiontracker.com to find some software.

[hayne]

Is this music that you purchased from some non-Apple online store? If so, it is likely using some Windows-only DRM and cannot be played on a Mac. This is often called "protected WMF".
But if your music is in MP3 format, it is unafflicted with DRM and can easily be played in iTunes, with or without an iPod.

[ThreeDee]

If your step dad thinks that installing it will install spyware or other bad programs, then he is wrong. I do know that many people think this.

You must use another program that can connect to the iPod, like iTunes. It is somewhat like installing a driver for a printer. Won't work without it. You can import most of your audio files (mp3, aac, most wma, your CD's, etc.) from your computer, as well as purchase stuff from the iTunes Music Store (DRM!)

If you purchased a bunch of stuff from whatever WMP uses as a store, the files may not work in iTunes, and the iPod wouldn't be able to open them anyway because of some copy-protection security thing.