I have to say that this is a BIG issue for me - and apparently for many other users. Not only will MC 11 not sync my ratings back from my ipod to MC, but even if I turn off "Sync back to MC" my ratings (which came over fine from MC and were never touched on the iPod) disappeared when I connected the iPod again to MC.
Ratings are at the heart of most of my smart lists and unfortunately, they are not visible in iTunes which means that I can't even consider iTunes to be a viable short term solution while J River gets this problem gets fixed.
I have used Media Center for several years and have been delighted with the feature set but also exasperated at times by extremely buggy software. Given the fact that this fix for the iPod will only be available in the near term as part of an ALPHA release that - by J River's own admission - is still unstable, I'm faced with the realization that it may be time for me to abandon Media Center. I need to know that the music I listen to on my computer, on my iPod, on my Squeezebox, and on my TiVo (using Galleon) are all in sync. iTunes music management capabilities suck, but I may just have to grin and bear it.
And now - as I write this - I just learned that Apple has come out with a new iPod and new version of iTunes which means that Media Center will be even further behind in keeping up with the changes. With iPods such a central component of music lovers' digital lives today, media software that doesn't work properly with them is basically crippled. I find it ironic that the press release from July to announce the launch of Media Center 11 notes that: "They [Microsoft] don't offer all of the device support that users are currently demanding. However, JRiver is reacting to customer needs and offers specific support for the iPod, the TiVo, serving to standard UPnP devices, and the new PSP." And the Features page on jrmediacenter.com specifically draws attention to: "iPod playcounts, date last played, and rating transfer to MC from iPod" which is basically untrue for anyone who has a recent vintage iPod or has upgraded to the latest firmware.
At the very least, I think J River should strongly recconsider their decision to put the fix for this iPod issue in the larger 11.1 release rather than releasing it ASAP as an upgrade to 11.0. Short of this, I will, sadly, have to bid farewell to MC.