Mondak: I'm not sure about winamps AAC abilities, so you may very well be right, but I couldn't let you off saying that copy-protection was spy-ware!
good luck in your search. yes, iTMS is wonderful for those who A: LIKE and USE iTunes, and B: those who own iPods... and apple did that on purpose to encourage the use of their products... can't blame em
what you should do, to try it out, go pick up some pepsi, they're giving away free songs under bottle caps right now... (assuming you drink pepsi products anyway) it's a free trial kinda thing.