Paul Thurott Reviews Zune Services, Software & Zune HD

[Adam Krebs]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.winsupersite.com/zune/zunehd_fini.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.winsupersite.com/zune/zunehd_fini.asp</a><br /><br /></div><p>"<em>But the Zune HD soldiers on with the same weird limitations as its predecessors and as Apple expands and enhances the iPod lineup and its surrounding hardware, software, and services ecosystem, the gap only widens. Today, the Zune HD is offered in only one country worldwide, the United States, and when I asked Microsoft about this, I was met with a cooler-than-usual response that offered little to no hope that the company took this product seriously enough to offer it outside its own locale.</em>"</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/zt/auto/1255316973.usr495.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" width="400" /></p><p>Paul Thurott, of Win SuperSite fame, has finished up his exhaustive review of the Zune Software, Device, and Services, assigning ratings (in the form of pictures of his head) for each of the key parts. Overall he seems to like the device and software, but finds many parts lacking in a number of ways. It's a long read, but well-worth it.</p>

[Janak Parekh]

Paul states out loud what I am (and maybe many other people are) thinking:

"When is Microsoft going to put it together?"

This is the second? third? iteration of its efforts to create a unified media experience, and I feel like they keep on reinventing the platform instead of just finishing it up. What happened to Windows Media? Why was it so tainted that Microsoft had to start over again? It's even worse in the portable space, as they had Windows Mobile, then Portable Media Center, then PlaysForSure, all of which used the Windows Media platform, and then they tossed them all out and went Zune. The PMC effort, in particular, bothers me. It's like Microsoft didn't even try, just blew a ton of cash and saw it go absolutely nowhere.

(Not that Apple has come close to putting it all together, mind you: the Apple TV is still quite tepid. But at least Apple is sticking with one approach and set of products. Isn't that easier?)

--janak

[Phillip Dyson]

My problem with the whole Zune HD product is the fact that I don't trust Microsoft to develop the platform and ecosystem.

Don't get me wrong, its a great interface, with great services, on top of great hardware. But, to me, its bearly work the upgrade.

If this was Apple or Google I would make the purchase now.


It really comes down to:

Will the App ecosystem every be anything?
Can I expect OS updates as often as Apple with bug fixes and new features?