I want to get an MP3/DAP player but the specs for the newer/better ones always say they require Windows XP. I use a customized version of Win98SE on the last computer I built because it's extremely fast, stable, and a small install (OS under 30 MB). None of the software I use requires XP so I've never felt like I needed to upgrade.

So when these newer players say they 'require' XP, is that because of the bundled software that comes with them for transferring the files to the player? Is that software even necessary? If they came with a simple Win98 driver couldn't you just drag & drop files to the player using Windows Explorer like you would with a flash memory drive or card reader?

I've talked to a few people who said that many players are detected as standard USB Mass Storage Devices and should work fine with Win98, but I obviously don't know this from first-hand experience. All I want/need to be able to do is drag & drop the files using Explorer. I don't care about whatever bundled software comes with the player as I doubt I'd have any use for it.

I guess I could try finding some online reviews of the ones I'm interested in (SanDisk & Samsung at the moment) to see if anything is said about how they show up in Explorer, but I figured I'd pose the question here to see what you think.

What do Linux users do for MP3/DAP players? Have a backup system that runs Windows?

I think most, if not all, Cowon/iAudio DAPs are USB mass storage (UMS) devices. I think Samsung is MTP (WinXP only), so does Creative. With Sandisk, I think you can set the player to be either MTP or UMS. iPods are UMS, but iTunes requires at least win2k (unless you use rockbox).

iPods are only UMS for "regular" data, any music files you transfer through UMS will not be played on the iPod music player.

That's why I said rockbox. With rockbox, you don't need iTunes.

You might have luck using an iPod or Zen (creative firmware) on windows 98 using Winamp. However, I've not tried it so I'm not 100% sure it'll work.

The more I've thought about it, I'm willing to switch to XP. I need a new (bigger) hard drive anyway, and Win98 has issues with HDs over 160 GB, so maybe I should just bite the bullet and get XP.

My only issue is the high price. What's the deal with auctions you see on eBay and other places where they're selling XP Pro for only $50 or less? They have good feedback and have been sellers for several years so no one has shut them down. Is the stuff legit or are the auction sites just turning a blind eye to it?

Linux + ipod + Amarok = awesome

XP for $50 is probably either pirated or stolen from a Dell PC, which is a rip off if you have to pay that much. Even OEM version is still around $90. How old is your PC? Might as well get a new PC with XP.

I've considered Linux several times but have never really whole-heartedly committed myself to it. I think I'm going to have to stick with Windows for my guitar programs, and for Winamp or Foobar and the plug-ins I use..... but I could install Linux on this PC once it becomes my 'old' PC and finally start getting familiar with it.

I built it in 2001. 1Ghz Athlon, 512MB RAM, general purpose AGP graphics card, and 40 & 120 GB HDs. I'm going to have to do some reading and familiarize myself with the current technology, like PCI Express, SATA hard drives, etc. before I build a new system.

If you are really going for cheap, you can get windows 2000 pro for under a hundred here http://www.pricewatch.com/software_oper_system/11599-3.htm ($93 for the spanish version)

Or just call the manufacture and ask them what will happen if you plug it in to a Windows 98 box, hopefully you'll get someone cool and they'll go outside the bounds of regular tech support

For what it's worth, at http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=78592 ,
this guy has developed replacements for the standard IDE drivers for Win95, 98 and ME to break the 137GB limitation per partition.

Regards,

I use Amarok and it has a media device manager that is compatible with ipod/ntp/ifp and UMS devices. Personally, I use an iRiver ifp-799 flash player, and it works great with Amarok.

Foobar runs perfectly using wine, (here's a screenshot if you don't believe me http://www.gkmweb.com/images/foobar_on_linux.png ) I haven't tried winamp because Amarok solves all my playback needs.

I have a windows machine for work, but I rarely touch it for audio stuff. I use cdparanoia for ripping (via grip), but occasionally I need eac for a difficult disk.

Now that's interesting, I must say. And yes, it's a 137GB partition size limit, not 160 as I said.

If you're able to run Foobar, does that automatically mean that any of its plug-ins that work in Windows would also work? I'm not currently using Foobar but have seriously been considering switching over to it from Winamp since I can apparently use Winamp plug-ins in Foobar with its DSP Bridge plug-in? There's several Winamp plug-ins I can't do without, like Ozone, and some speed/pitch things I use for guitar. I know people are successfully using Ozone with Foobar (in Windows anyway), but if I could do so in Linux and also use the other plug-ins I need then I'm going to have to give it some serious thought.