I-pod. Help!

[daedalus]

At Christmas I bought a 20GI-pod. I have only just got around to using it, because my own computer is a Mac with OS9.1 and, of course, I-tunes will only run on OSX. My oldish Mac will not work with OSX, so I have to get a new Mac, but I want to wait a bit.
So, I use my son's second computer - laptop, Windows XP.
I want to transfer all my classical CDs onto the I-pod for long airplane flights, so that I don't have to put up with crappy headphones and music selections and, even worse when flying over US territory, paying $3 for a pair of crappy headphones!
So, I log onto I-tunes, play the CD and transfer the music to I-tunes. When I attach the I-pod, it automatically updates and adds the new music to its memory. So far, so good.
After a while, I-tunes gets pretty full so I thinks since these tunes have already been transferred to the I-pod, I don't need to keep them on I-tunes any more (after all, if I want to fill the I-Pod, that's 20G of tunes on my laptop, whose hard disk isn't all that much bigger.)
So, I get rid of the stock of tunes from I-tunes to "clear the decks".
I insert another CD and transfer the music to I-tunes, then plug in my I-Pod. What happens? The I-Pod takes the new music, but at the same time gets rid of all the rest (i.e. everything that is no longer in I-tunes!)
Aaaaaaaah!
That also means that if I go to a friend's place with my I-Pod and see a good CD of his which I would like to have on my I-Pod, I use his computer and log onto I-tunes, insert the CD and transfer to I-tunes on his computer. Then, when I attach my I-Pod, it takes the new CD, but only at the price of erasing everything else on it.
Surely it can't have been designed like that? Can it?
Help!

[ORAC]

You don´t have to use iTunes, there are several other packages out there which allow you to copy music using drag and drop. Just do a search on "ipod drag and drop" and have a browse.

[gas path]

Surely it can't have been designed like that? Can it?

Of course it can......it's Apple!!
dons helmet and waits for incoming!!

[Flyrr100]

You should be able to load OSX on your mac with no problems. I was running my old 450DV iMac with OS10.2 for years. My iPod ran great with iTunes.
You can still get copies of OS 10.1, 10.2, or 10.3. Try ebay.
I still have a OS10.2 DVD disk that I used to load my old iMac. It was made for an eMac, but worked fine. You have to have a DVD drive to us it though.
If you want it drop me an email [email protected]. I'll gladly send it to you.
Or, you could do what I did and buy a new Intel dual core iMac with OS10.4 installed, along with iLife. They go for around $1300 heree in the US.

Macs Rule!

[spannersatcx]

Surely it can't have been designed like that? Can it?

By default, iTunes is set to update iPod automatically. When you connect your iPod to your computer, iTunes opens, copies selected songs in your library and playlists to your iPod, and erases songs from your iPod that aren't in the iTunes library. Depending on the type of iPod you have, you may also be able to create and manage playlists on your iPod or synchronize contact and calendar information with your iPod.
You can create a standard playlist or a Smart Playlist. Standard playlists are created manually and are not automatically updated as your library changes (exception: songs you delete from your library are deleted from the playlists that include those songs). Smart Playlists are created based on rules you set up, and are automatically updated as your library changes.
To update iPod with only certain songs:
1 In iTunes, check the boxes next to songs you want to transfer (by default, all songs are checked).
2 Select iPod in the iTunes Source list and click the Options button.
3 Select “Only update checked songs.”
To set iPod to update only selected playlists:
1 In iTunes, select iPod in the Source list and click the Options button.
2 Select “Automatically update selected playlists only.”
Transferring Songs and Playlists to iPod Manually
You can set iPod to transfer songs manually, so you can transfer individual songs and playlists. This is especially useful if you want to use iPod with more than one computer.
When iPod is set to transfer songs manually, iTunes won’t update it automatically when you connect it to your computer.
With your iPod connected and selected, select edit > preferences, then under the ipod tab deselct automatically update and select manually manage songs.

[daedalus]

I-Pod

Wonderful! Many thanks to you techie guys out there. Thank heavens for PPrune!