I’m currently working on a review of the Zune HD for Maximum PC. So I’ve been neck-deep in Zune (and iTunes) for the last few days. Of course, this comes hot on the heels of a major update to iTunes with iTunes 9, and some new iPod goodies, which I wrote about earlier. Since I’m reviewing this stuff elsewhere for pay, this is not going to be a review of the software or device (I’ll probably do a Zune 4.0 software review here in the future). Rather, this is an argument for Microsoft to finally bring Zune to the Mac.
Seriously Microsoft, it’s time. The iron has never been hotter, so to speak. The stars are aligned. And other clichéd turns of phrase. You have the right device, the right momentum, and the right opening to establish to the Mac crowd that, yes, Microsoft is indeed capable of making great software and sexy devices that have great features and are easy to use.
First, the Zune HD is hot. It has the gadget and tech community excited. Gizmodo loves it, calls it the best PMP on the market, and says “It’s got the most unique vision, the most impressive hardware and the most stylish software.” The new iPod announcements from Apple are nice, but they didn’t “wow” the press. That’s not going to last, so Microsoft should do something dramatic while the tide is in its favor.
Second, the Zune 4.0 desktop software is at a place where it’s honestly a better way to organize, find, and listen to/watch your media than iTunes is. I mean, go to the main music landing page in iTunes 9 and it looks like this:
The iTunes 9 music landing page is a bit cluttered
Compare that to the main music landing page in Zune 4.0:
The Zune 4.0 music landing page is clean and organized
By comparison, iTunes is cluttered and full of interface no-nos like mixing vertical and horizontal scroll bars, unaligned major elements, and so on. Main artist pages are even worse, compared the the Zune stuff.
When you’re listening to music, iTunes doesn’t really show you anything. The best you can do is enable the visualizer, which is certainly quite pretty. It’s not every useful, though.
iTunes gives you a visualizer that is slick, but not useful
Compare that to the Zune now playing, which pans beautiful hi-res artist artwork, nifty scrolling stats, and gives you access to the list of stuff you’re currently playing (it fades away when you stop interacting with the software for a few seconds).
The Zune 4.0 Now Playing screen combines attractive art/animation with useful controls.
Zune 4.0’s “Smart DJ” feature is about as useful as the Genius stuff on iTunes. I prefer Smart DJ because, if you have a Zune Pass, it can optionally stream in songs from the marketplace, while Genius is limited to stuff in your collection. In fact, you can Smart DJ any artist you’re browsing in the marketplace without even having any of their music. But even if you don’t have the $15-a-month Zune Pass, the Smart DJ gives you the option of turning the software’s mix into a playlist, and even auto-refresh the playlist every X days (you can adjust it per-playlist).
Apple has continued to avoid giving iTunes users a subscription option like Zune or Rhapsody. Of course this isn’t for everyone, but there are those that really like it, and I constantly see comments from Mac users that they’d love the option.
Importantly, compatibility with users’ existing iTunes stuff isn’t the barrier it used to be. Both iTunes and Zune have moved most of its “purchased” content to DRM-free MP3, or at least AAC (which the Zune software and hardware plays just fine). The Zune software and hardware plays MP4 video, too.
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