Windows XP and OSX iPod Compatability
I have an extensive music and video collection stored on my Windows PC. My iPod is formatted for Windows.
In a couple of weeks I will be getting an iMac, I'm worried about the compatability issues between the two systems and my iPod.
Will I be able to plug my iPod into my PC and and transfer all my stuff over to my iMac?
Will the iMac recognise a Windows Formatted iPod or will it try to reformat it to OSX?
The Apple site shows how to use the iPod as a Hard Disk and use it to transfer my iTunes Collection to another Windows PC or from a Mac to a Mac but I can't see any info about transferring from a PC to a Mac.
If I network my PC and iMac will I be able to share my iTunes between both computers?
But I'd rather have all my iTunes stuff on my iMac because my iPod periodically locks up all USB ports on my PC, disabling my graphics tablet and keyboard.
In a couple of weeks I will be getting an iMac, I'm worried about the compatability issues between the two systems and my iPod.
Will I be able to plug my iPod into my PC and and transfer all my stuff over to my iMac?
Will the iMac recognise a Windows Formatted iPod or will it try to reformat it to OSX?
The Apple site shows how to use the iPod as a Hard Disk and use it to transfer my iTunes Collection to another Windows PC or from a Mac to a Mac but I can't see any info about transferring from a PC to a Mac.
If I network my PC and iMac will I be able to share my iTunes between both computers?
But I'd rather have all my iTunes stuff on my iMac because my iPod periodically locks up all USB ports on my PC, disabling my graphics tablet and keyboard.
Comments
Will I be able to plug my iPod into my PC and and transfer all my stuff over to my iMac?
Will the iMac recognise a Windows Formatted iPod or will it try to reformat it to OSX?
Your Mac won't have any problem with the Windows formatting of your iPod. That, at least, is not one of your worries.
As for moving your music from your PC to your new iMac, and using your iPod as the go-between... the quick (but not complete) answer is no, that doesn't work. One of the things Apple did to appease the music industry was to cripple the iPod as a convenient carrying device for transporting music from one computer to another.
However, there are a number of exceptions and ways around this.
For iTunes Store purchases only, as of iTunes 7 your iPod can be used to update one computer with purchases placed on your iPod by another computer, provided that you have iTunes signed into the same iTunes account under which those songs were bought.
The Apple site shows how to use the iPod as a Hard Disk and use it to transfer my iTunes Collection to another Windows PC or from a Mac to a Mac but I can't see any info about transferring from a PC to a Mac.
This also works, and it does work in both directions. The drawback is that, if your music collection takes up more than half of your iPod's storage, you have to wipe out the listenable copies of your music before you'll have enough room to move your music. When you're done transferring the music, you'll have to delete the music you just moved from your iPod, then re-sync your iPod so that listenable copies of the music will once again reside on your iPod.
Another option is to go to versiontracker.com and find some Mac OS X freeware or shareware that knows how to extract music from your iPod. I haven't used any of this kind of software for a while, so I have no specific recommendations, but I'm fairly certain you can find something useful.
If I network my PC and iMac will I be able to share my iTunes between both computers?
That won't allow you to conveniently sync music files between computers, but you can turn on sharing in both copies of iTunes and listen to what's on one computer from the other computer as streaming audio.