iTunes on Vista is painfully slow

"I have used MGTEK dopisp with great success (it is a plug in for WMP)
Version 4 supports iPhone and iPod Touch."

For a while now, I've been using a program called SharePod. It is a standalone EXE that needs no install. It was built on top of the .NET SharePodLib. There is no need for the painful sync any longer. Copy files from your computer to your iPod, or from your iPod to your computer. Check it out: http://www.getsharepod.com/

I don't know what it is that slows iTunes down so much... maybe the size of the music library. It might also be the "Genius" feature added not too long ago, which scans your music library to try and "suggest" playlists to you... maybe turning it off will help a bit?

You can use http://www.doubletwist.com/ to sync your music with your iPod/iPhone. I would imagine that the latency incurred by the wi-fi network drive may be at fault.

"You could use itunes with the drag-and-drop feature. Don't keep the library in the itues, and drag albums/songs directly to your mp3 player.

That's what i do."