Zune software

Known as the "one-stop-shop" for music and entertainment, Zune lets you manage videos, songs, and pictures. You can rip and burn CDs and then relax later with your favorite songs. Along with that, Zune lets you build playlists, edit tracks, and edit album information. Zune will automatically import the existing files into your iTunes and Windows Media Players. Zune has become the go-to marketplace for new music, and it works with the Xbox 360 so that you can listen to your favorite hits while playing games. Zune can be found in the Xbox dashboard, and you can listen to this music as you play games. Developed by Microsoft, this is one of the reasons that you can play Zune on Xbox.

Even if you do not want to do those things, Zune also works as a stand-alone software, and you can simply use Zune to play. One of the biggest complaints that people have over Zune is how intrusive it can be. For example, when you go to open it, it closes every other program that you had opened. Microsoft made Zune so that it did not work backwards compatible with WMA-DRM9, and you have weak native video support. That means that Urge and Napster will not work, and if you have subscription tracks from those companies, it won't work.

For most people, Zune will please them with its intuitive interface and solid playback performance. Another problem is that Microsoft struggles to do anything new in this market with solid competing companies like iRiver, Creative, and Samsung already pushing out excellent performing systems. It does not leave a lot of room for Microsoft to do anything new. One of the revolutionary features, however, is the Zune-to-Zune effortless file sharing. It works a lot like iTunes that way.

Zune makes a fantastic option for beginners because of the convenient integration and less confusing UI. The future of Zune looks bright, and hopefully we will see some wireless features added one day. For right now, Zune has a 30 GB MP3, and you have video and photo-friendly performance. You do not even need WMP to sync files or manage Zune.

The MP3 player does have many similarities to the others that do photo and video playback, but what separates Zune from the rest is the WiFi chip. It lets Zune seek out other people using Zune, and it gives the option to share photos and music with them. However, this does not work with video. For someone who wants functionality, Zune will definitely be good enough to view photos and watch videos. You have three different brightness settings with vibrant colors. The Zune experience is one that is worth checking out to decide for yourself.

Pros

• Does everything that you might expect of an MP3 player
• Can sync with the Xbox 360
• Intuitive interface
• Can share photos and songs with other Zune-sters

Cons

• No backwards compatibility
• 30 GB of memory is small compared to the iPad's 80 GB