Jason Dunn
11-14-2006, 12:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/13/installing-the-zune-sucked/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/13/installing-the-zune-sucked/</a><br /><br /></div><em>"When it comes to the hardware, we're pretty much set; we all now know the Zune inside and out. But how it interacts with the software, the marketplace, etc. -- that's where the magic happens. Or doesn't. We really wanted to give the Zune the benefit of the doubt. We hoped installing the Zune software and getting our player running would be as seamless and painless as getting iTunes and an iPod running on your machine, since that is, after all, what it's up against. (Granted, not even iTunes is bereft of major problems on major releases.) Unfortunately, the reality of our experience with the first version of the Zune software this afternoon is much like that of many version 1 software experiences. It sucks. Read on to see what happened. So, before we get started, a few caveats. Our machine is a Windows Media Center XP 2005 box -- light use, basically our media server and occasional Engadget test bed. We weren't anticipating any problems. Our software is version 1.0.5341.0 -- the release version of the Zune software that came bundled with the player. Let's go through the install, shall we?"</em><br /><br /><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2006/engadget-zune_software_23-nov13.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />Wow. First it was the guy who got the Zune early having trouble, now it's Ryan Block over at Engadget. What are the odds? I had <a href="http://www.zunethoughts.com/news/show/240/zune-desktop-software-v-1-0-5341-0-visual-walk-through.html">no trouble installing the desktop software</a>, but that was on a Windows XP testbed machine with basically nothing on it that I use just for testing new software. Tomorrow when I install a Zune "for real" it will be on my laptop, so let's hope I have more luck than Ryan...