Are there any good alternatives to an ipod that someone could recommend or stand behind? Preferably something Microsoft-based. The concept of the ipod interests me but I really despise anything done by Apple and it's no exception.

I assume the ipod is compatible with Windows and everything else, though. I know little of it. Educate me.

I stand behind the iRiver, partially. It plays mp3, wma, and ogg files. It's got a radio. It requires no (required) software at all, so it's not tied down to Windows or Apple. It's battery life is quite long (reportedly 16 hours long).

The downsides... It's a bit bigger than the iPod. There's no gapless playback, though I doubt most portable audio players are gapless. There's no sign of any firmware updates ever again, so no new fixes or features are to be expected.

People seem to like the Creative Zen, too.