There are only a few portable media plpayers that have been able to even come close to keeping pace with the iPod in terms of sales. One of them is the Creative Zen.

It used to be that if you were a Zen owner, you got shut out of the iWorld altogether: Anything imported into iTunes or purchased on the iTunes store could not be played.

Until now.

01 Sep 2007

The newest Zen model will now support files encoded in the AAC format, which is the default encoding system used by Apple for music files.

This means that all of your imported iTunes songs along with any DRM-free iTunes Plus will now work with your Zen. However, DRM-equipped material, such as iTunes store videos and normal purchased tracks, will still be shut out.