I'm going to answer my own question here, because I went out and bought one straight up, not realising just how new the technology is. Good news and bad news.
Bad news 1. I didn't read the specs that said it requires Windows 2000 or higher. That explains why it kept failing to install on my trusty 98SE desktop. OK, over to the lappies.
Bad news 2. Three attempts to install on Lappy 1 with varying degrees of success before everything crashed. Fourth attempt appeared to install everything (iPod and iTunes) to the point where things would work. Plug the hardware in the back, attempt to load music from the library to the iPod, and boom! Major crash! Specifically, and I quote
.........................................................
A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
If this is the first time you have seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps.
Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need.
If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select advanced startup options, and then select safe mode.
Technical information:
# **STOP: 0x00000050 (0Xffffffe8,0x00000001, 0x804E1419, 0x00000000)
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.
..........................................................
Further reboots got the same results.
OK, one lappy left, with a nice clean install of XP and little clutter. Success. Program installed OK, managed to import music and transfer to iPod Shuffle ok. Nice sound quality, though I hate those pissy little earpieces so much I'm going out to buy a cheap pair of wraparound headphones.
Battery life claimed to be 12 hours, we'll see. But it really is the size of a chewing gum packet and weighs the same as a car key. I imagine those with Macs will love it, but Windows users are not yet convinced of the supposed "box to first use in 5 mins" user-friendliness that Apple is famous for. Maybe they rushed this one out a bit early. See
here for discussion on the Apple site that would tend to confirm that.