he new Zune Marketplace is what the old Zune Marketplace should have been when it debuted a year ago: smartly designed, beautiful to look at, easy to use, and capable of delivering more than just music. Yep, Microsoft has finally added podcasts and music videos to the mix, and the slick, seamless integration was worth the wait. Even more amazing, you can now buy DRM-free MP3s in addition to Zune-only WMAs. But you’ll still find zilch in the way of TV show and movie downloads, a major disappointment. And with a music library that’s lagging far behind those of the competition (3 million songs, compared with at least 5 million in iTunes, Napster, and Rhapsody), this long-overdue update is ultimately more style than substance.
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If you already own a Zune, the Zune software comes with it, of course. Zune Marketplace is incorporated within the software, just as the iTunes Store resides inside iTunes. If you don’t own a Zune, you can download the software free of charge and use it to manage your music collection, a task at which it excels. You can also sign up for a Zune Pass (more on that later), though without an actual Zune player you’re not really getting your money’s worth. If you want a music-subscription service that’s suitable for desktop listening or syncing with another brand of player (like one from Creative or Sansa), you’re better off with Napster or Rhapsody—since Zune Marketplace can’t sync with anything but Zunes.
The original Zune software lamely emulated Windows Media Player 11, but the new version has a style all its own—and a dazzling style at that. It deftly organizes your music, video, and photo libraries using an interface that’s simple, elegant, and downright artistic: The half-dozen available wallpapers for the software lend a trippy, abstract feel. Switch to the now-playing view, meanwhile, and you’re treated to a shifting album-art mosaic. For once, Microsoft has crafted an interface that doesn’t try too hard to be cool; it just is.
Specifications
It’s also quite functional. You’ll see your music collection displayed in three columns—artists, albums, and songs—all on the same screen. This makes browsing incredibly easy: You can scroll down any column, click an artist, album cover, or song, and then click Play. There’s also a more traditional list view, complete with custom columns, for those who like to see more details.
Microsoft also revamped the Zune software’s search options, though not entirely for the better. The search field is no longer dynamic: You have to type your complete search term and then hit Enter. Fortunately, the results appear in a flash, with matching items from your collection on the left, and matches from Zune Marketplace on the right. The latter may include songs, music videos, and even podcasts.
Thankfully, dynamic search hasn’t disappeared; it’s just invisible. If you start typing without first clicking in the search box, the Zune software immediately starts to filter matching content. Your keystrokes appear in a large transparent box, which disappears when you stop typing. It’s ingenious, but it doesn’t work well: To find Amy Winehouse, for instance, you can’t just start typing her last name; you have to start with “Amy” or the search comes up empty. What’s more, there were times when I started typing and dynamic search just plain didn’t work. That’s too bad, because, save for that buggy feature, I think the Zune interface blows iTunes out of the water. (I’ll give it the nod over Napster’s and Rhapsody’s music managers as well.) In addition, the software monitors folders and automatically adds new media to the collection, a feature iTunes still inexplicably lacks.
Unfortunately, Microsoft chose to eliminate one feature iTunes does have: smart playlists. You can no longer automatically generate playlists based on various criteria, such as artist, play count, or rating. Also gone is the one- through five-star rating system for songs; now you simply click a heart icon once for “like it” or twice for “don’t like it.” If there’s some logic behind this move, it’s lost on me. This isn’t a very useful rating system.—Next: At the Marketplace