Also if I download music from I-tunes, or celebrity website to Realplayer or Windows Media player will be be able to transfer it to an I-pod if I get one?

The iTunes software, which you are pretty much forced to use if you want to sync music onto your iPod, will convert Windows Media .wma files to the iTunes .aac format on the fly when you import the Windows Media files into iTunes. I don't use Realplayer files myself but understand that they, too, are converted on the fly. Mp3 files are understood natively by iPods and iTunes.

Great rant by Charlie Booker about iTunes etc. in the Guardian yesterday, Apple zealots should look away now.