The iPod, Apple Computer Inc.'s MP3 player, has been widely hailed as one of the best digital music players ever.
It's small, it's light, it's fast, and it's slick-looking.
It also doesn't work with Windows. Or, at least it's not supposed to.
When Apple released the $399 iPod on Oct. 23, the company's chief executive and iconic founder, Steve Jobs, made it clear the company had not made a decision as to whether it would ever support Windows with the device, which has the same sleek white lines as Apple's newer laptops and desktop computers.
But Apple's reticence has not stopped a legion of enthusiasts -- professional software companies to college kids -- from making their own software to solve the compatibility problem.
Mediafour Corp., a private software developer in West Des Moines, Iowa, has made its name over the years with software that allows users of Windows PCs to read and use Macintosh disks and programs.
So it was only natural that within weeks of the iPod's launch Mediafour announced "XPod," a program that would allow people with Windows PCs and a FireWire port (the high-speed port type the iPod uses) to use it just like any other MP3 player.
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