I would like to create a CD with music from the internet.  Exactly How
do I create a play list from which to burn unto a CD?  I would like
specific instructions as I'm not saavy in that area at all.

There are numerous software programs available that will allow you to
create playlists from music obtained from various sources and then to
burn them onto a CD.

For sheer ease of use I would recommend Musicmatch Jukebox. The free
version should be adequate for your needs.

You can download it from:

http://www.musicmatch.com/download/free/

It depends on whether you would like a music subscription service
(with a monthly fee) like Napster, Music Match or Rhapsody, or if you
would rather pay approximately 99¢ per song. If you would rather
purchase the songs individually, without a recurring monthly fee, I
would recommend instead Apple's iTunes Music Store. And you'll
probably want to get an Apple iPod, the most popular MP3 player,  to
take your music with you!

The iTunes Music Store is by far the most popular source for online
music, featuring the largest legal music library and the best
interface for purchasing and managing music. iTunes is counting up to
its 500,000,000 song purchased. Best of all, as opposed to most of the
other services, you pay 99¢ per track and you OWN the music. With the
subcription services, once you cancel your subscription, you lose
access to the music you downloaded. (As you can see, I'm an Apple fan;
I truly believe iTunes is the very best online music solution for PC
and Mac users.)

1. Download iTunes for free by going to http://www.itunes.com/ and
once you install it, you'll see a very easy to use interface. The
source column on the left displays your Library (which stores all of
your Music) The Music Store and your playlists (in addition to a few
other services like Podcasts and Internet Radio).

2. You can bring music into iTunes by ripping (copying) your CDs or by
purchasing music from the Music Store. If you want to rip CDs you own,
put one in your drive and select the CD from the source column on the
left hand side. Then click the import button on the top right.

3. If you want to purchase music from the iTunes Music Store, click
the Music Store icon in the source column on the left hand side. You
will then see the iTunes Music Store. You can search for the music you
want or browse the selection, and when you find a track or album you
wish to purchase, click Add Song (or Add Album)

4. To burn a CD with a custom selection from your iTunes Library,
first create a new playlist by clicking the + symbol on the bottom
left side of the iTunes window. Drag the songs you want to put on to
the list from your Library to your new playlist. Then insert a blank
CD into your drive, select your playlist and click Burn.

Ikdemo,

I'm afraid that there really is no 'ideal' solution' to your problem. 

I was in exactly the same position as you two years ago.

I currently subscribe to a dozen different online music stores, all of
whom deliver tracks in different formats from OGG to MP3 to WMA
etc....

In addition, I have at least four different media players installed on
my computer (and I still can't control which one plays a track!).

The only reason that I suggest MusicMatch is that it does not try and
tie you into a proprietary format and will play anything I throw at it
and also rip pretty much anything to a CD.

Now, were assuming you have a CD burner here. If you're having
problems, just double check that 1. it's a cd or dvd burner and 2.
it's configured as a cd or dvd burner.

The simplest answer to your question is to check the help file, in
whatever program you use to obtain or listen to the music. There are
burning capabilities in

Windows XP 
Windows Media Player 9+ (suggested for files with no content
protection, or plays4sure compatible files)
iTunes 4.x (suggested for iTunes store music)
Musicmatch Jukebox (limited)
Registered versions of Winamp (not suggested)
Realone (limited, not suggested)
Napster (Napster songs)
Nero Burning ROM (no content protection only. Great if you have it.)
Many others

Best of luck!

It is so much easier than that. If you still need assistance, let me
know. I can have you burning music or movie cd's in minutes! joe

I'll explain this as best as I can.

Wherever you got your music from, I won't ask. Not all music
downloaded over the Internet is legal, and if you got it by illegal
means, that's your own business, not mine.

With that covered, here's how to burn them to a CD:

Download a CD burning program. I prefer Nero Burning ROM, which can be
downloaded here:

http://www.download.com/Nero-7-Ultra-Edition/3000-2646_4-10511837.html?tag=lst-0-1

After you download and install that, you're going to want to tell it
to burn an Audio CD. At that point, it's going to ask you to add files
to the "project". Just select the songs you want to put onto the CD
and click "Add". You can also drag-and-drop the files onto the
project, itself.

Keep an eye on the meter at the bottom of the window. It'll show you
how much space is left on the disc. Your standard CD can hold 700MB of
data, which equals 80 minutes of audio. Your average MP3 file can
range from 3MB to 20MB, and even more. So just be sure to not add too
many songs, otherwise you'll have to end up removing some from the
project.

So, once you've got all the songs you wish to burn onto the CD added
to the project, you can rearrange the order of the songs by
clicking-and-dragging them to the position you wish them to be in.

After that, you'll hit the "Burn" button, insert a blank CD into your
CD tray, and it'll go on it's own from that point, and let you know
when it's finished.