OK this might sound like a simple one but I'm thinking of getting my Oh an IPOD for xmas but all of his music has been downloaded from the internet (not Itunes). Now, someone told me that the ipod only takes music from registered websites or music that has some security certificate or some such thing. Is this true or will he be able to stick anything on it?
Many thanks.

If he has downloaded mp3 files from illegitamate sources he will be fine, as IPOD will play MP3. The only files he wont be able to play on an IPOD are WMA protected files, bought from the likes of Napster and MSN.

... or normal WMA, or OGG, or FLAC.

Yes, I know you can convert them but it won't actually play them unaltered.

thanks for that, I'll go and buy one right now

When I installed Itunes on my pc every piece of music on it was converted and installed onto my ipod..It did it automatically so I did not need to to anything..This was music from CDs and downloaded tracks.The format did not matter..

.... indeed.

And if they were already in a lossy format (which WMA is) then you get the associated loss of quality that goes with a conversion to a second lossy format.

Which is a discussion held on here on seemingly a weekly basis.

Hey ho ......

Good choice. You cant get better than the most succesfull mp3 player in the world.