iPod coming to Windows

Cross-platform computing specialist Mediafour is developing a software bridge to allow Windows users to download their digital music collections to Apple's highly rated MP3 player, iPod.

Called XPod, the code will transfer MP3s, WAVs and AIFFs to iPod from any machine running Windows 95, 98, Me, NT 4.0, 2000 and XP, Mediafour promises. All you need is a 1394 port, built-in or installed by way of a PCI add-in card.

Mediafour says it will soon open its work to public scrutiny through a beta test programme. The company is best known for its MacDrive utility, which allows Windows PCs to read and write Mac HFS disks.

So far, the iPod, which began shipping in the US last week and is expected to debut in the UK and Europe next week, has been presented as a Mac-only product, part of Apple's strategy to entice computer buyers to the Mac platform.

iPod connects to Apple's iTunes, and to date Apple has said it is not planning to port its digital music management application over to Windows. Of course, since iPod is essentially a 1394 hard drive with music stored in an invisible directory, it shouldn't be too hard to code a simple application to expose said folder and allow Windows and Linux users to copy over files by drag-and-drop.

Quite how XPod interfaces with Windows music applications we don't yet know - we're waiting to hear from Mediafour. Watch out for an update as we learn more. ®

Related Stories

Apple iPod redux
Apple pops iPod
When will Apple hook PDAs into the OS X digital hub?

Related Link

Mediafour: XPod
Thanks to reader Jared for the link