Good! Makes me feel better not being out all alone on the brave new world of not-itunes.

?? I drag them from Windows Explorer into CopyTrans Manager (hereinafter known as CTM) totally seamlessly, whether it be an individual file or a group of files nested four sub-folders deep. (Try that with iTunes!) And, if I try and drag 22 GB of files into my 1.89 GB Shuffle, CTM politely tells me that this isn't going to work, what would it like me to do, whereas iTunes would just start plugging away.

Locate tracks where? On the iPod, or on your computer? Either way, the file browser dialog is absolutely standard. In CTM, there is the usual search window up in the upper right, type in a word or partial file name and everything that fits your search parameters is instantly displayed, excluding everything else, and allowing you to take whatever action you want - play it, delete it, make a playlist, etc. Oh, BTW, just try deleting a few selected tracks from your iPod using iTunes... On your computer, Windows Explorer also uses a pretty standard file browser dialog. Oh, wait, it is the standard.

That's why God (i.e., Mr. Gates) invented directory trees and browsers. Seriously, why would you want to type in "D:\MP3\_OMC\Tunebite\Not DVD\Archer, Jeffrey\A Prison Diary\" in order to add those tracks?

This I can't speak to, as my computer is standalone (other than sharing a USB printer with SWMBO's iMac.) But it seems to me (speaking from invincible ignorance) that once Explorer has found the files they should drag into CTM without delay. I dunno...

You are probably right about this. It isn't a feature I would have use for in the way I operate my iPod (It's only a 2 GB 2nd Gen Shuffle full of audio books, and when I finish the last book I delete everything and load in the next batch). I thought maybe if I tried adding in tracks that were already in the iPod it would tell me, but it just adds them as duplicates. If it didn't add duplicates, you could just dump the whole folder in and CTM would add only the new tracks. Possibly the authors of CTM would consider adding this feature in the next revision.

If I understand correctly your markings (the "-" and "+" at the end of each line) we are in agreement there. At first I thought the markings were just line separators, and your last line criticized CTM for not being "iTunes Plus" with even more counter-intuitive, Apple-mandated, limited-usefulness bloatware "features", but then I realized what you were doing. Not being "iTunes Plus" is by far the most important aspect of CTM to me. It lets me put files on my iPod and it lets me take them off, simply, quickly, seamlessly, and that is ALL that I want to do. I like not being tied to some kind of iTunes Music Library, not having to set up alternate libraries for each i-device (SWMBO has an iPod Shuffle, an iPod Touch, and an iPhone), not having the program automatically take off and do things I don't want it to do, and just so much more BULLS**T that I don't have to deal with.

Andy, you have my sincere sympathy.

tanstaafl.

Hmmm.. "Preview Post" won't work, just says "Loading Preview" for a while than quits. Maybe too complex with all the embedded quotes? I hope I got it right...