IBook...PC....mini...and iTunes....please help

Question

Hello,
I am currently using an iBook G4. My wife has a PC. Fortunately...I mean unfortunately her PC has fried motherboard and I convinced her that we needed to order a Mini to replace it. We intend to use the Mini as the "family computer." A few questions:
1)Is it possible for us to maintain separate libraries on the new computer? We like each other but not necessarily each other's taste in music.
2)If it is possible to have 2 different libraries/accounts and if so, what is the best way to transfer music from my iBook to the Mini.
3)I know there are software programs to extract music from an iPod which we will need to do unless we can salvage her PC's hard drive. Is there a preferred way to do this and if so will this affect the iTunes set up if we each want different libraries?
Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

In your case I would recommend creating different accounts on the Mini, each with their own iTunes library.
To transfer the songs from your wife's iPod to the Mini, read my reply inthis topic.
After a successful transfer, I recommend restoring the iPod to factory settings.
If it's never going to be used with a PC again, it's convenient to have it 'Mac-formatted'.
Instructions here: Restoring iPod to factory settings
If your iBook has a Firewire connection, you can put it in Firewire target disk mode. Your Mini will see the iBook as an external drive, which will enable the transfer of your library on the iBook to the Mini.
You will however loose the play counts, playlists and some other information.
If your wife's iPod is a large capacity one, you can (after you salvaged her tunes of course) use it as an intermediate to transfer the library without loss of data as described here:
How to use your iPod to move your music to a new computer
Hope this helps.
M
17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM   Mac OS X (10.4.6)   Several ext. HD (backup and data)