For decades, iPod has dominated the mobile media market. Okay, it's actually only been about five years, but Microsoft has stepped into a world so completely ruled by Apple that Zune would pretty much have to unfold into a portable movie theater with reclining seats and free popcorn to really compete. It doesn't do that.

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If you've read How iPods Work, you know all about the device. In short, the latest version (5G) is a digital media player that can handle music, photos, podcasts, video and, with the flip of a setting, any file type at all in its portable-hard-drive mode. Its form factor is unfathomably compact, third-party programmers have developed all sorts of sweet hacks to expand and change its functionality, it's seamlessly integrated with the most popular media-download store in the world, and it works with Mac OS X and Windows XP/2000.

So how does Zune stack up? The general opinion is that Microsoft did all right.


Photo courtesy Amazon.com
Zune (left) and iPod

Zune handles all of the basics -- music, video, podcasts and photos. The big things Zune has to offer are a larger screen, built-in WiFi for file sharing, and an FM radio tuner. Okay, the FM tuner isn't that big, but it's something the iPod is lacking.

The Zune screen is a 3-inch diagonal, compared with 2.5 inches for iPod. That half-inch difference is a huge deal when you're watching a movie on such a small screen. Plus, Microsoft has taken nice advantage of the screen size by implementing horizontal video orientation -- you can turn the device 90 degrees when watching a movie in order to take advantage of the wide aspect ratio. The built-in WiFi is a very nice touch, but it falls short on utility. You can send a file to another Zune player within 30 feet (10 meters). That's it. You can't use the wireless connection with a PC or any other device for syncing or the like. Also, under DRM (digital rights management) restrictions, any song or podcast you transfer to another Zune disappears from the receiving Zune after three days or three plays, whichever comes first, no matter what. It's part of the Zune DRM architecture, which is somewhat unpleasant. It's hard to figure out because there are different restrictions for different files, and the rules are not immediately apparent, so you pretty much find out what you are and are not allowed to do when you try to do it.

While the Zune store is, at the moment, minimally stocked compared to the iTunes store, it does offer a subscription service that iTunes doesn't: $15 a month to download everything you want. The store doesn't have any videos, movies or TV shows to download, at least for the time being, but you can upload your own video files to the device. Zune does support unprotected AAC files much in the same way that iPod supports unprotected WMA (Microsoft-proprietary) music files. One major plus to the Zune player noted by more than one reviewer is a more streamlined system for file navigation. It takes fewer screen changes and fewer button presses to get to the file you want. Of course, Zune doesn't have Apple's Click Wheel. It has buttons that look somewhat like the Click Wheel, but they're just buttons; and iPod's Click Wheel alone has won it lifetime loyalty from more than a few users.

Microsoft's Zune holds its own in the media-player world. But iPod is the product of Apple's single-minded dedication, and it shows. It looks sleeker, it's lighter, slimmer and smaller. iPod supports Windows, but Zune doesn't support Mac OS X. Apple's FairPlay DRM scheme, while far from perfect and arguably not all that fair, is play-oriented, not time-oriented, which most people see as a more logical way to track and limit usage.

The iTunes Store is such a tremendous plus for the iPod, it's hard to give it its due props. Not only does it offer an exceptionally broad range of media, but its payment methods are more straightforward than the Zune Store's. For Zune, you need to purchase chunks of points, and points don't match up to dollar amounts. For some reason, 79 points is the equivalent of 99 cents, which is the cost of a song at both stores. Both players automatically sync with their media-player software to download purchased songs, but early reports have the Zune software performing somewhat poorly compared to iPod's software performance. Especially when it comes to syncing, Zune's initial efforts are a bit glitchy.

Microsoft acknowledges that Zune is a first effort. The player only comes in one capacity: 30 GB. iPod comes in multiple capacities and form factors tailored to fit the needs of everyone who walks into an electronics store for any reason. But the division that created Zune is the same one that's been churning out new, upgraded versions of Xbox every few years, so we can definitely expect to see Zune 2.0 sometime soon. For now, most industry experts agree that Zune is the lesser media player, but it does the job and even excels in some areas where iPod falls a bit short. One thing is for sure: The war is far from over.

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