iPod When did iPods become cross platform?

[MyDesktopBroke]

I bought an iPod classic right when they came out, before I realized there was an OS requirement for running it on a Mac (I had 10.3.9). But it would work fine on my brothers Dell, so that's how I set it up.

Last night I plugged it into my MBP to charge, and I woke up this morning to find it mounted into iTunes completely functional and everything.

I did a quick Google and couldn't find when this feature was added, but there you have it. Is this new or did I completely fail at noticing an update?

 

[spinnerlys]

It is cross-platform due to using a Windows PC to set it up, as the file system used for the iPod is FAT32, if one uses Windows to set an iPod up. As Mac OS can read and write to FAT32 formatted volumes, the iPod will be usable via Mac OS X too.
If you would have used Mac OS X to set the iPod up, it would have been formatted with HFS+, and as Windows can't read or write to that file system, you wouldn't see that iPod in Windows and couldn't use it via Windows.

FAT32

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• No individual file larger than 4GB.

NTFS

• Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
• Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write NTFS from Leopard: Install MacFUSE and NTFS-3G. You can install both with NTFS-3G for Mac OS X.
• To Read/Write NTFS from Snow Leopard: Guide: Enable native NTFS Read/Write in Snow Leopard
• (Be aware that some are of the opinion that enabling native NTFS in SL is unstable/unreliable, and favor the MacFuse/NTFS-3G method for Snow Leopard)

HFS

• Read/Write HFS from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write HFS from Windows, Install MacDrive
• To Read HFS (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer

 

[Benjamindaines]

The only iPod that was Mac-only was the original one with the mechanical jog wheel.

 

[WiiDSmoker]

The only iPod that was Mac-only was the original one with the mechanical jog wheel.

May it rest in peace.

 

[roland.g]

The only iPod that was Mac-only was the original one with the mechanical jog wheel.

May it rest in peace.

I have still have my original mechanical jog wheel Rev. A 5GB iPod. I haven't tried using it in a few years, but the last time I plugged it in it worked. My 2003 3rd generation 40GB with the row of 4 buttons that light up red still works too, but again I just don't use it.