Just to be clear for anyone who hasn't looked up the iPod Photo at Apple.com--the Apple version ALREADY works on Windows, photos and all, including 3rd-party software. Yes, they allow choice
🙂 iTunes handles photo synching from whatever your source is, and Apple now makes a version of iTunes for Windows.
Even on Mac, iPhoto is optional--which (along with speed/convenience) is why having iTunes handle photo AND music synching is a good thing. I use a Mac, but I don't sync to iPhoto, I sync to a folder with my photos in subfolders. Those are my albums. Same thing works on PC, plus iPod Photo also supports Adobe Elements and Adobe Album.
http://www.apple.com/ipodphoto/autosyncphotos.html
Even if you're like me (until iLife '05!) and don't use ANY compatible photo software, you still just drag your photos into a folder and they auto-synch. You still have control over which albums/subfolders synch and which do not. It's pretty flexible--and if I used Adobe Elements (PC) or iPhoto (Mac) it would be even better: no drag-and-drop step needed.