Gizmodo
Zune 2 and its batch of new features are finally upon us, bringing new players and an entirely new experience. On the device side, there's 4/8GB flash-based and 80GB hard drive-based Zune with fancy form factors and increased storage, as well as new firmware for your old first-gen 30GB players. On the software side, the functionally rich (but somewhat clumsy to use) Zune suite is gone and is replaced by a beautiful, but hollow successor. Read on to find out how Microsoft has managed to change a lot on the one hand, and very little on the other—then see how the Zune stacks up against iTunes and iPod.
The Software: Large icons, bright orange and pink colors, and lots of small (but tasteful) animations welcome you when you start up the Zune suite. Gone is the dark MTV Urge-based Zune 1 that looked like a mix between iTunes and Windows Media Player. But that's not all that's gone—Microsoft took out a bunch of features in the name of making the experience a lot simpler to use.
First off, there are no play counts and the rating system has been re-tooled to just a heart, a broken heart, or no rating at all. If you're wondering how that will affect your smart playlists, well, there are no smart playlists anymore. I can only speak for myself when I say I love making smart playlists based on songs that I've played the most or rated the highest, so this move hurts like stealing candy from a diabetic low on blood sugar.
What they did add, beyond the tastefully animated and skinnable interface (you make it you!), is quite nice. You can now wirelessly sync to your Zune, which can be initiated from either your computer OR your Zune. Once connected, you can drag songs or playlists onto the Zune icon in the bottom left. Fairly straightforward, and definitely easier to understand than the iTunes/iPod's "choose which things to sync" for a beginner. This "make things easier for the casual user" motif can be seen in all of Zune 2's changes.
Other additions we like:
• There's a little icon next to each track that shows whether it's on the device or not.
• Podcast support is quite nice and is divided up into video or audio podcasts, and but video podcasts need to be converted. It took about 30-ish minutes to convert 6 podcasts from X-Play and Attack of the Show on a low-end Pentium D machine in the background while we scoped out the rest of the Zune stuff.
• TV Shows sync fine, but also need to be converted from Windows Media Center's DVR-MS format. This also takes a bit of time depending on how fast your computer is and how long the show is.
• Windows Media Lossless is now supported.
• The video playback screen is nice, big, and full screen.
• The Now Playing screen when playing music has a huge wallpaper of your album covers.
• Marketplace has been cleaned up to match the rest of the Zune UI.
Other complaints:
• You only get two views, one where there's a huge list of artists on the side, the other a gigantic flat list of all your songs that you can sort by artist, album, or genre. Again, simplified to the point where advanced users would miss some functionality.
• Searching doesn't find stuff while typing.
• No edit screen to edit ID3 tags. No mass/multiple item edit. All you get is pressing F2 and editing the artist name, album name, or track name. You can't even change the track number. This makes it hard to edit track details.
• Synced photos are aliased compared to the first Zune software. We're not sure if this is because each picture is synced full-size and then resized on the fly (for better squirting), but it's noticeably worse.
In the end, despite a graphical overhaul that added eye candy, the features Microsoft left out make us wishing for the old Zune suite back. We'll definitely say that what's left is very refined—but like a statue that's been over-polished down to a unnatural sheen, it's missing important features. And we'll take features over a glossed-up interface any day. Let's add back the features in Zune 3.
vs. iTunes: What used to be quite a close match between the Zune suite and iTunes has turned into a one-sided first round knockout for iTunes. Apple's changed iTunes very little since a year ago, but Microsoft has completely re-vamped their offering. We'd rather them de-vamp this, take a look at iTunes, and add back smart playlists, song ratings, play counts, metadata editing, and everything else that makes iTunes the best music manager software on desktops—Mac or PC.
The Player: While Microsoft changed a whole lot on the desktop side of the Zune experience, the player side actually changed very little beneath the big-lettered facade of its front screen. It's true that the menus are large and in your face, but the now playing screen is essentially the same as in the first edition. The same goes for playlist view, the song list, genres, albums, and artists. Only slight navigational changes (such as more horizontal scrolling) and presentation differentiate this version from its predecessor, as you can see in the video above.
We got our hands on the 8GB Zune and proceeded to shove it into our pants—this time for scientific reasons.
Videos and pictures still display the same—tilted to the left in landscape mode—but the addition of podcasts is very welcome. They're separated between audio and video, and video podcasts play exactly like a standard video. The whole section is nicely integrated into the Zune experience.
The biggest change is the wireless sync, and to Microsoft's credit, it works beautifully. Dig into the settings menu, under wireless, and you can trigger a manual wireless sync. Connect it to a power source and it will automatically sync after a minute's worth of idle time. The setup process to connect to your wireless point is simple as well, but needs you to connect your Zune (via USB) to your PC. There might be a problem if your computer's out of Wi-Fi range, but otherwise it's pretty much painless.
Some things, like podcasts and video, are too large to sync quickly over Wi-Fi. This means you should sync with USB if you're in a hurry. Other than this, we don't have any complaints about Wi-Fi support. They've finally delivered on a feature people have been asking for for a year. This is exactly why this Zune 2 firmware update feels more like a maintenance release than a feature upgrade—which makes us understand why Microsoft is giving it away for free to old customers.
vs. iPod: Have we changed our recommendation from last year? Yes, things are quite different now. The iPod itself didn't get many new features, but the introduction of the iPhone means you've got something else to consider now. Then there's the iPod Touch, which has the power to provided both music and internet features, and more when hacked. You don't want to have to manage your music library in both iTunes and Zune, which tips the scales in Apple's iPod classic's favor.
However, for brand new customers that haven't dipped into either company's ecosystems, the Zune player seems to have slightly more features. Both iPod and Zune support music, video, TV Out and podcasts, but the Zune still has FM radio and it still has the Zune Pass subscription service. Add to that the convenient wireless sync, and you've got an offer that's quite tempting. Despite these plusses, the child-like software that limits what you can do with your music really hurts. In the end, it seems that Apple has kept the delicate balance between keeping functionality while making their software usable, while Microsoft has fallen off the fence and landed on the side of over-simplicity.
Comments
Woohoo! I can't wait to upgrade the firmware on my Zune v1. I got the Woot $99 special (stupid $84 special...) and dropped in a bigger battery and HD because I was bored. Now I can get that Windows machine out of my room and into the garage where is belongs. Yay for wireless sync!
even as an apple fanboy i have to say that i'm proud of you giz, this post wasn't biased!! YAY
Wait, I'm confused. You can't sync podcasts and video over wi-fi? Is it disabled, or does it simply take too long to be practical?
@kingofmars: You can sync podcasts and video over Wi-Fi, but if you're in a rush it may take too long. Shoot me an email if you want more explanation too. Let me know which part I wasn't being clear on!
@kingofmars: "Some things, like podcasts and video, are too large to sync quickly over Wi-Fi. This means you should sync with USB if you're in a hurry. Other than this, we don't have any complaints about Wi-Fi support."
You can but it takes a while because their big. So they recommend USB
hate the zune, but Love the Smiths Covers!!!!
@junk: What battery did you upgrade your Zune30 to? I think I want to get a Zune30, but the battery life is horrible. The only battery I found extended the life an extra hour... that's crap compared to the Zune80.
Any help would be great. :)
Playcounts do exist. Chose list view instead of browse. Then right click on the columns to choose columns. Playcounts do exist.
You can't edit ID3 tags?
That's terrible. I don't even think the ID3 tag editing in iTunes is very good.... but not having it at all is a major loss of functionality. Especially when it's a feature that could be invisible to standard users that might not want to mess with that.
Can you elaborate on the podcast support? Does the software allow a subscription type setup like in itunes, or are you dling the stuff via web sites?
How are the podcast listings? Are we able to get pretty much everything we get in itunes? (major stuff lie rev3 not weird obscure things)
As a first generation Zune owner, I recently got the iPod touch to try on. Gapless playback, if you listen to DJ mixes and live concerts, and more equalizer settings are key factors if you remember that the gist behind the mp3 player is to play music. That plus an amazing interface really raised the bar with the iTunes and the Touch. The zune was a contender with it's FM radio, and now wireless sync, but those 2 benefits do not shake iPod and iTunes off the table. Microsoft rushed Zune 2, and lost me to Apple on the second generation Zune, which I would have been happy to buy if it offered that much more.
Anyone know why DAPs never include AM radio? Does AM need too much juice? Or is it just that it requires adding more hardware which isn't justified by the smaller market for AM radio?
Looks tempting...
The Zune brand, in my opinion, has evolved like the original XBOX to the XBOX 360. They know what they're doing now in the business of music.
Then again, the iPod Touch is sexy.
@ryan7107: Too much interference, perhaps? I love me my talk radio in the morning but if that clock/radio's power cord isn't in precisely the right position, reception goes to hell in a handbasket.
No smart playlists? No play counts? No rating system?
Its like they wanted to improve on Apple's minimalism, but instead they just screwed themselves up. I bet Steve Jobs reads Zune product announcements when he wants to get a good night's sleep.
@neekap: True, and they probably don't think the demand justifies the cost. I'm sure they've focus grouped it.
There are alot of things I really like about the Zune. I think I am still liking more about iTunes/iPod, for now.
I still want a clock!!!!!!
Somebody tell me why the year old WMP 11 is better than the ZUne software?
I'll go ahead and say it - its what everyone else said when people complained about most everything that was wrong with the Iphone - all those things you complain about can be fixed with a firmware/software update.
Clock? - Software
Play count? Software
'Smart' Playlists? Software
Rating System? Software
Also, there is a rating system - if you already have stuff ranked in stars 3+ that gives you a heart - under 3 (2.5, etc) gives you a broken heart.
Not a big deal. It still has a ton of great features and the complaints can be answered in software updates. The hardware is pretty rock solid.
And, I know a lot of people say Itunes is great - however...I have both a Zune and an Ipod (Shuffle - for working out) - and Itunes frustrates me to no end. Why is it that every single week I need to install and new version of Itunes (or so it feels)? It seems that every week or so there is some new thing I have to install for Itunes. I have had 2 or 3 updates to my zune software since I purchased it last November. I have had my Ipod for maybe 2 months and I know I've installed at least 6 updates.
But all the complaints have been software related and that stuff can be fixed quickly if necessary.
So how long until the Zune software is updated with the ability to edit ID3 tags?
That really seems like an "Oh fuck, guys, remember how I forgot my keys on the table last week? Well, I did the same with the ID3 tags in the software. We're going to need to fix that. :|"
Actually, I'd like to hear an official statement from the Zune team since that seems like such a huge misstep.
What about 'Zune Social'? I'm wondering how they plan for that to have any functionality without play counts, a robust rating system, smart playlists, etc...
@djkevo:
Wait, Zune 2 doesn't have gapless playback?
That's like what I considered (as an iPod fan) the shittiest thing about the iPod until they finally got it right with the 5.5G (and retrospectively with 5G). I'd always figured it had to do with processing power of the CPU or something limiting it, but Zune 2 coming out a year after 5.5G iPod w/o gapless looks really bad...
I've always said that I won't to anything from my iPod, not so much for the hardware per se, or even the several dozens of stuff I've bought from iTMS, but because of the software--iTunes. If MS keeps it up (or down, I guess) with their crippled software, there's no way in the world a Zune will be considered. It's a shame, too, cuz I do think the hardware of the new Zunes are actually quite good.
removed the search while typing??? Man, I love that -esp when I can only spell a few letters of bands odd spellings.
Mistake IMO.
Also like the multiple views of old - the rating system was kind of weak in the old system.
I'm a youngin' when it comes to Zune ownership, only being about 3-4 weeks old. My impression of the current v1 software is basically "Good idea, not executed well." Especially when it comes to the online album updates. I've never seen anything incorrectly (automatically, even) "help me" reorganize my data, thrashing my ID3 tags, separating several albums that had consistent, correct ID3 tags, and making me spend about 7 days (here and there, free-time only) cleaning up the ID3 tags myself and preventing the Zune software from doing that again.
My fears is that the new software will do the same thing, but make it a bigger pain to fix. I've resorted to using a free utility to clean up my ID3 tags, and the new version of the software only seems to reinforce using it that much more.
I'm NOT trying to plug any forums, but this how-to and link to the freeware was a tremendous help for me: [www.zuneboards.com]
Now I'm off to make a backup of my music "just in case" in preparation for tomorrow!
i dont know if maybe this was just overlooked (and i cant verify that this works since i dont have the new zune software) but they recently updated the album search server in the current zune software. you can edit tag info there after selecting the closest album.
you choose one of the albums and before you hit "finish" there is an "edit" option next to the album art where you can edit pretty much everything you need to. and infact if it works i will much prefer this way to the old way anyways because you really only need to edit tags when the software cant identify the song/album anyways.
IMPORTANT QUESTION!
I have watched a few run throughs, read the reviews, and I cannot find mention of the equalizer. Is there an equalizer in the new firmware????
I hate that smart playlists are gone. But the main thing I used those for in the past was for better podcast management and since that's integrated now I guess that's a non-issue for me at the moment. I'm sure that's functionality they could add back in in future iterations.
@PuckOTG22:
If the biggest complaint you have with iTunes is that it asks you to update too often, the solution is simple - don't update. If you can live with the current features you have, just ignore it when it asks to update.
anyone know if XP x64 will be supported this time around? because i dualboot with vista, but i can't get my dang internet to work which means no install on vista.
i also heard that you could just import your library from itunes or wmp, is this true?
@luckypictures: I'm pretty sure I read that they took the EQ out.
"and everything else that makes iTunes the best music manager software on desktops-Mac or PC."
I got lemonade up my nose now. Thanks Giz, haven't had a good laugh in a while, been needing one...
Is this available for download yet? My old Zune application claims there are no updates...
Is the software/firmware out?
Just want to say thank you to Jason for a very good review. Everyone touched on subjects of interest in one way or another.
Keep up the good work.
@xanadu1979: BULL FUCKING SHIT. THAT WOULD SUCK BALLS. BIG, GIANT, DONKEY BALLS.
"..and everything else that makes iTunes the best music manager software on desktops-Mac or PC..."
You've got to be fucking joking.
To PUCKUTG22 - That's true! All that could be added later with a simple firmware update - Though that's not necessarily likely.
And to the author...it is indeed a good review, but a bit curious, in that you focused a lot on the new software for the desktop, the new firmware, of which you supplied us with an example using an old Zune...
But it seems you sorta forgot about the new hardware! Most noticeably is the lack of mention of the touch pad, which is one of the key features of the Zune 2. Functioning not only as an up down, left right scroll, you can also "flick" up an down with it, or just move your finger along it to move your selection - which I found one of the cooler new features.
All in all, it seems like a great upgrade, though as mentioned, it is a shame that the new software is oversimplified.
An even bigger shame is that I can't buy the thing anyway, cause I'm in Canada.
Why'd I spend all this time looking it up again?
Ahem,.... back to work.
We need a nice biased post now without saying any of the Zune's features and only iPod features.
Kinda like this: The new Zune is still big and stupid and is still just as thick as it was before while the iPod has gotten almost impossibly thin. Also the screen is tiny compared to the iPod Nano's which is nearly 10 quadrillion pixels bigger!!
See? Nice and blown way too far out of proportion to be fake.
What's up with all the fucktards complaining about this review. The review is for the software (not the hardware) and it pretty much looks like the software blows rocky mountain oysters. In light of that fact, I think Jason was pretty kind to MS for what appears to be pure pink crapware.
And yet, somehow that translates into Gizmodo having an Apple crush. You douches are no better than the "Apple fanboys" you claim always interjecting Apple this and Apple that on non-Apple news. Except for you guys, everything's gotta be Apple fanboy this, Apple biased Gizmodo that. Do yourself a favor (and everybody else a bigger one) by stop coming to the site if its contents piss you off so much.
Nicee.. : )
I never used the Zune software to update my files. I pop open WMP 11 (my personal favorite media manager) and once it updates album art, info, I pop open the Zune App and the info obviously carried it over seamlessly. 2 software to do one thing right? Sure, why not...
@dearhaw: wow apple fanboy any one?
@CarbonatedWater: again with the fanboys u guys piss me off... at least our zunes work properly... you can have ur anorexic shitty ass player... have u even used the new ipods UI (can anyone say slow as shit).... you want me to keep going
@splines and @blue_mountain
For hardcore music fans, iTunes really is the best music management app. The combination of library organization, ID3 editing, artwork and pdf handling, smart playlist options, podcast and video and audiobook support...it's amazing what it does if you learn to use it.
Also, if you are on a Mac, it uses very little resources and there are HUNDREDS of AppleScripts that plug-in and do some really amazing things for iTunes. It's one of the most stable and extensible music platforms on Mac and a great library manager on Windows. ([dougscripts.com])
(I've used iTunes on Windows for a year and OS X for the last 2 years with a 123.95GB (23697 song) library. I've also use WMP10/11, MusicMatch, RhythmBox, J River Media Jukebox... None can match the feature set and music management capabilities of iTunes)
@eclipxe: i agree itunes is incredible...on a mac... on a PC it runs like crap no one in here can disagree....... lol
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