iTunes purchases "Protected AAC" and "Purchased AAC"

Are the songs I download from iTunes which state "Purchased AAC" in the 'kind' column of iTunes mean they are DRM free?

Yes.

I was wondering if there was anyway official way to convert these so that they are DRM free also?

Click here for the upgrade page. The recording industry charges Apple an additional royalty for each iTunes Plus upgrade downloaded.

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+"Are the songs I download from iTunes which state "Purchased AAC" in the 'kind' column of iTunes mean they are DRM free?"+

Yes.

+"If this is the case have a few albums that I purchased from the iTunes store before they introduced DRM free music hence they were downloads in "Protected AAC" format and not the new "Purchased AAC" format which are DRM free."+

Correct. The only mystery is what they are "protecting" you from.

+"I was wondering if there was anyway official way to convert these so that they are DRM free also??"+

Yes. The official way is to use the upgrade feature, which costs 30 cents per song in the US store.

+"Is it possible to delete and re-download them?"+

Yes, but it would be cheaper to upgrade.

If they were free singles of the week, they can't be upgraded.