I’m actively ripping my CD collection to MP3 using CyberLink’s MP3 encoder for Windows Media Player.  I had ripped about 100 CDs at a fixed 192 bit rate and then discovered that the CyberLink encoder supports variable bit rate.  The size difference is significant, with the variable bit rate files being smaller than their fixed rate counterparts.  I was a big variable bit rate fan for Windows Media, so I’ll give the MP3 version a shot for a while.  If I don’t notice any audio quality problems, I may go back and redo the 100 CDs I already did in order to save on space.  The down side is encoding of the variable bit rate files takes noticable longer than fixed rate files.