Perhaps you’ve heard on the news recently that Microsoft’s new digital media player, the Zune, is hardly flying off the shelves. I guess that’s not too surprising given the early reviews the device has received. Now I know Microsoft is pretty good at hardware (Xbox, mice and keyboards, etc.) but they are still a software company. How is it then, that they could have screwed up the software side of the Zune so badly?
- “Installing the Zune…sucked.“
- “The software and marketplace: this is where things got really ugly.“
- “Early adopters are crying for help. They are confused on what should work or not as an operating sytem for the Zune software…“
- “Zune, the new digital music player from Microsoft, is not compatible with the software giant’s new Vista operating system.“
- “Even when the Zune software installs without issue, the process is surprisingly long and involved.“
- “My real gripe here, that kinda ruins the deal for me and I’m sure for a lot of you, is the craptacular suckiness of the Zune Marketplace.“
Now I haven’t seen or tested a Zune, so I can’t say I have had similar experiences. And granted, not all of the reviews are so negative (indeed there are quite a few positive ones), but still. A software company should have gotten the software part absolutely right, don’t you think?
MasterMaq's Blog 
Zune should have been supported in WMP11. I don’t get why MS is making this so difficult. Not having to install any software other than WMP11 on XP, and nothing on Vista would have been a huge selling point.
You know, reading through these reviews brings back *painful* memories of my Sony MiniDisc walkman. I hope things go better for Microsoft and Zune users…
The main thing the Zune has going for it is a firmware that can and will be upgraded to unlock its potential. I am not talking bug fixes, but an update that truly utilizes that wifi connection! Bug fixes will be important too though.