bartender,
First, working code is working code. You can easily intermix both kinds of memory management mechanisms in the same app. I only convert classes to ARC as I open the code up for other purposes. This allows me to slowly move my app to ARC. Why do you want to change this code to use ARC?
Second, the interface between core foundation items and ARC can appear to be complex ... but it isn't. Most issues are handled by using the __bridge
type qualifier. Typically, the compiler/fix-it tells you exactly what you need to do. (Working, non-leaking CF code doesn't need to change. It just needs to tell ARC to leave it alone.)
Andrew