In older versions of iTunes there used to be an option of downloading the highest quality version, when purchasing a song from the iTunes store (at least I remember an option of doing this in preferences beforehand). I have the latest version of iTunes and there doesn't seem to be an option of selecting the compression. How do I know the compression of the song that they will give me before I purchase a song?

I think they've converted to 256K across the board. Check the support site or help section.

Yup. They had both 128kbps and 256kbps AAC (a.k.a. iTunes Plus) available when they first introduced the higher rate (which also lacks DRM that hobbled the lower rate AAC format), but they've converted their entire catalog to the higher bit rate.

I also remember hearing (or reading) that they would even start offering some higher bitrate stuff (higher than 256kbps). Is there any of that available yet? Or is it just 256kbps across the entire catalog right now.

Pretty sure it's 256 across the board.

This is what I was talking about, I finally found an article.

http://www.slashgear.com/apple-consideri...ality-22135176/

I don't think that there are any iPods out yet to take advantage and most people don't have the right sound cards to even care or take advantage (many folks on this board excluded). It would be nice to have even higher quality audio as an easy to download option though.

It's a rumor; I wouldn't count on anything until they announce. And there are so many incorrect Apple rumors out there...