Mac iPod on a Windows machine.

[Asterax]

I have a 3G Mac iPod. Simply put, can I take songs off of the Mac iPod and onto my Windows machine?

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Not without either reformatting it first (which would erase all the songs on it), or using software on your Windows computer like MacDrive, which allows Windows to read/write to HFS and HFS+ formatted drives (like your iPod). You would then need to use Anapod or some sort of iPod-copying software on the Windows computer as well, as the iPod doesn't let you copy songs off of it easily.

Can't you simply network your Mac and your Windows computer, and copy the songs from the Mac over to the PC?

[Mystic Gohan]

you cant transfer any music from your iPod -> computer (win/mac)

Just computer (win/mac) -> iPod.

Well, thats with iTunes. There are some 3rd party programs out there that will take music off your iPod.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Yes, you can transfer music from your iPod to your computer without 3rd-party software -- the music is in a hidden folder on the iPod, and it's a simple matter of navigating there and copying it to the computer with a standard copy procedure.

Of course, this isn't taking into consideration that the iPod's music structure and naming convention is a little off-kilter: the music files are buried in cryptic folder structures and the names of the music files have been altered, but it's still "the music files" and can still be copied directly back to the computer.

[eric2006]

If you format the iPod as FAT32, both windows and mac can use and read it.

The hidden folder is something like iPod_Control/Music, I think.

the music files are buried in cryptic folder structures and the names of the music files have been altered, but it's still "the music files" and can still be copied directly back to the computer.

But the name of the music files do not matter, iTunes looks up the tracknames in it's database, I believe.