It worked before, the only change is that now you don't have to set the iPod to Manual Sync. It's not a huge deal but it is much more convenient because after enabling manual sync on one computer the iPod would default to manual sync on all computers and you would have to individually reset it to sync music, movies, tv shows, podcasts, and pictures. It can get to be a pain, especially if it's somthing your doing every day.

iPod yes, iPhone no. At least, not in the Windows version of iTunes. I used to do this with my iPod at work, and was pretty disappointed that I couldn't continue to do so with my iPhone. I'm glad to see the option to play is back, although I still can't sort my music by column.