Digital Trends

Microsoft Zune November 27th, 2006 | by Ian Bell

Setup and Use

There are a few basic things needed to get your Zune up and running. A Windows XP system (there is no current Vista support, but expect that to change in a future update), quick start guide, Zune installation software and the player itself. The product guide that comes with the Zune is nothing more than disclaimers produced by the legal department at Microsoft – it provides no real value.

Installing the software takes about 10 minutes to do and requires that you reboot your system. We had no issues with the installation process although we have heard of several installation problems (Engadget, Gizmodo, Crunchgear) from multiple sources, so be careful here. Once you install the software you will need to create a Zune login and password which ties the player to your system – and your wallet. This login and password is also used for the Zune marketplace. If you decide to install the Zune software on another PC, it will register it only as a “guest” account crippling your normal functions like transferring pictures or music for example. So make sure you install the software on the machine you intend to use most of the time. We experienced significant slow down on our test system once the software was installed, and upon removal we noticed our system sped right back to normal.

Logged in as a Guest

Zune Marketplace:

The Zune Marketplace is a desert of uselessness for a couple reasons. The first and biggest reason is the way your money is handled. You cannot simply purchase a single song, or album for that matter. You are forced to by blocks of points which can then be applied to music downloads. The minimum block size is $5 which means if you just want a couple songs; your money is sitting in their system until you use it next. We also did not find enough compelling content in the Zune Marketplace to justify purchasing the Zune. There are no TV shows, Podcasts, movies or other content available for purchase – just a thin music library. We expect that to change overtime though.

Microsoft Points are used to purchase songs

PlaysForSure:

It is our guess that Microsoft intentionally left support for PlaysForSure compatible music out so they would not step on the toes of their hardware partners. This way they are not competing with them directly right? This is a very poor decision because it will only confuse consumers more. As we mentioned before, if you have music downloaded from Napster, AOL Music, MTVs Urge, or even Microsoft’s failing MSN Music services, they will not work on the Zune. Here is a link to PlaysForSure compatible devices.