You mean Zune's exsist? Over here in Canada those things are like an urban myth that no one ever actually sees.
I'm in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This totally does NOT reflect my experience. Zunes are all over Wal-Mart, etc. Obviously nothing matches the "mind share" of Apple's offerings, but Zunes are at least available in nearly all places that sell DAPs.
If only microsoft would release their god damned marketplace in canada they might actually sell some up here instead of them all sitting on the wal-mart shelves =p
It does boggle the mind that MS has put all this work into Zune, yet they haven't supported Linux or OSX yet or expanded outside of the US. Is it really that hard for a big corporation like MS to do that?
It does boggle the mind that MS has put all this work into Zune, yet they haven't supported Linux or OSX yet or expanded outside of the US. Is it really that hard for a big corporation like MS to do that?
There was a linux build but it was plauged by memory leaks that could not be solved. I think they are working for a Mac version atm.
I think the big problem with MS moving out of the US is two fold.
First, Zune has the Subscription model, which may have screwed up some of the European and Canadian licensing deals, and MS is simply not big enough to force it's way like Apple is.
Second, and this is more of a random guess, MS may be having issues because they're still seen as the "Evil" corporation, where as Apple is the "Good Underdog" despite the falsehoods of these statements (for the most part)
There also may be another reason, in that they want to get some momentum going here in the US before trying to break into the "iPod is Cool" mentality, as they may have figured that trying to move overseas now would just make them fail.
Ghostly Clockwork on
FTC: honk.
FTC: HONK.
PAX Prime 2014 Resistance Tournament Winner
I think the big problem with MS moving out of the US is two fold.
First, Zune has the Subscription model, which may have screwed up some of the European and Canadian licensing deals, and MS is simply not big enough to force it's way like Apple is.
Second, and this is more of a random guess, MS may be having issues because they're still seen as the "Evil" corporation, where as Apple is the "Good Underdog" despite the falsehoods of these statements (for the most part)
There also may be another reason, in that they want to get some momentum going here in the US before trying to break into the "iPod is Cool" mentality, as they may have figured that trying to move overseas now would just make them fail.
The main problem is that they only moved halfway into canada =p were they really expecting decent sales without giving canadian customers a legal way to buy music for it? They seem all the more silly for it since apple has had the itunes store up here for a few years
UPDATE:
The biggest thing is confirmation what I was thinking: It doesn't do changes automatically, so if you change something, it may take a few days or a few different changes and some idle time before it bothers to update. Which, IMO, is TERRIBLE procedure for software. If I make a change, I like to see it immediately. I don't save a Word document after making some changes and then have to wait until I've made 5 different changes on that document before Word writes it to the file on my HDD.
Maybe I've just never noticed this issue, or perhaps I misunderstand what you're saying here, but if it updates on the Zune's software then aren't you really seeing it immediately? I don't really see how it's bad software design to have potentially time-consuming operations delayed until such a time as the user is not 'busy' on the computer. Most people don't care if their file has been updated, but they do care if their computer is 'really slow.' I think they went for a perceived performance boost here.
I did have some issues with the tagging at some point but I'll freely admit it was, err, not typical usage.
I'd also like to see the Zune software move to a more "normal" style in version 4. Perhaps imitate the office interface with ribbon or something instead of this ghastly anti-Windows white box format they have going on right now. I was very surprised when I loaded up the Zune software and saw this. It's such a departure from normal Microsoft interfaces.
I have to agree it's a bit annoying but I think the departure from Microsoft-y looks was exactly the point. In some ways I do find it more appealing, though. I recently re-installed iTunes so I could sync my iPhone (and holy balls, let me just say I appreciate the Zune marketplace a whole lot more now) and I found it kind of drab by comparison.
I think I'm still on the fence, though, I kinda like it but I kind of don't At the very least, the sorting features drive me nuts sometimes - but it's also very nice to just start typing and have my music filtered as I watch too, a feature that is NOT well advertised at all. It should have a little pop-up or something the first time you run the software.
UPDATE:
The biggest thing is confirmation what I was thinking: It doesn't do changes automatically, so if you change something, it may take a few days or a few different changes and some idle time before it bothers to update. Which, IMO, is TERRIBLE procedure for software. If I make a change, I like to see it immediately. I don't save a Word document after making some changes and then have to wait until I've made 5 different changes on that document before Word writes it to the file on my HDD.
Maybe I've just never noticed this issue, or perhaps I misunderstand what you're saying here, but if it updates on the Zune's software then aren't you really seeing it immediately? I don't really see how it's bad software design to have potentially time-consuming operations delayed until such a time as the user is not 'busy' on the computer. Most people don't care if their file has been updated, but they do care if their computer is 'really slow.' I think they went for a perceived performance boost here.
I did have some issues with the tagging at some point but I'll freely admit it was, err, not typical usage.
I guess as a power user I just wish that when I use a program to edit file metadata, it would update it when I clicked ok. Editing a single file or even an album's worth of files at once shouldn't be that processor intensive to really be noticeable by the user. I'm currently using Foobar2000 to do some mass tag editing before I import the files into the Zune software because it's that much faster and nicer than the Zune software. Plus it has some auto-tagging options I really was looking for.
I'd also like to see the Zune software move to a more "normal" style in version 4. Perhaps imitate the office interface with ribbon or something instead of this ghastly anti-Windows white box format they have going on right now. I was very surprised when I loaded up the Zune software and saw this. It's such a departure from normal Microsoft interfaces.
I have to agree it's a bit annoying but I think the departure from Microsoft-y looks was exactly the point. In some ways I do find it more appealing, though. I recently re-installed iTunes so I could sync my iPhone (and holy balls, let me just say I appreciate the Zune marketplace a whole lot more now) and I found it kind of drab by comparison.
I think I'm still on the fence, though, I kinda like it but I kind of don't At the very least, the sorting features drive me nuts sometimes - but it's also very nice to just start typing and have my music filtered as I watch too, a feature that is NOT well advertised at all. It should have a little pop-up or something the first time you run the software.
I will admit that the Zune software is really nice for eye-candy, but when I want to do some heavy sorting and searching I really hit the limit of what it can provide me, plus it's cumbersome because it's highly graphical instead of easy to read text. But generally, yes, it's much nicer than just looking at a wall of text. I did have to turn down the graphics completely to run smoothly.
My biggest complaint I had during my 14 day pass trial was the marketplace's lack of sorting. I was going through the genres and it wouldn't let me resort the artists alphabetically or any other method. It only showed me by popularity which was absolutely stupid. It made it so hard to locate artists I was looking for to download during my trial.
I'll have to agree that the Zune is not made for us as power users.
On the plus side, I got my girlfriend (a decidedly non-power user) one of the small 8gb models when I bought mine last Christmas and I have not once had to go over to her apartment to 'fix her song thingy' the way I had to with iTunes.
It would definitely be nice to have an advanced mode of some kind or a more 'standard' skin though. Media Player pisses me off for this, as well, the way the menus work on it is beyond stupid and I have yet to figure out how to make the playlist viewer thing appear again after closing it.
Upgraded Texas Hold'em with multiplayer and more features, as well as 3 new free games! (Checkers, Sudoku, and Space Battle)
We asked how you would change the Zune 3.0 software and Microsoft responded -- by upgrading Texas Hold 'Em. In addition to adding a multiplayer mode and some new single player difficulty levels to the venerable card game, the 3.1 update (out today) should find Zune Social easier to navigate, and a new "like minded listeners" feature lets you compare your music tastes to other users on the service. Additionally, the update promises an overall increase in stability and performance for the Zune PC app and the device firmware, including improved play count reporting and content synchronization. Rounding out this embarassment of riches, the new software packs in freebies of Checkers, Sudoku and Space Battle.
Sooooo I have canceled my Sirius radio service since things have gone to shit with them. Planning on getting a Zune 120GB either this week or December 1st. And really just want it for the car.
How does the Zune pass work? I got Sirius hopeing to hear stuff I couldn't hear on normal radio. Will Zune pass help do the same? You know hear new things. Kinda like Pandora.
And is it a good time to get one? Any deals or bundles anyone has heard of? Or new devices coming out soon?
Sooooo I have canceled my Sirius radio service since things have gone to shit with them. Planning on getting a Zune 120GB either this week or December 1st. And really just want it for the car.
How does the Zune pass work? I got Sirius hopeing to hear stuff I couldn't hear on normal radio. Will Zune pass help do the same? You know hear new things. Kinda like Pandora.
And is it a good time to get one? Any deals or bundles anyone has heard of? Or new devices coming out soon?
Haven't heard of any deals, but if something will show up, Black Friday and Christmas sales are the time they will. Check out some of the black friday sites for electronics and see if Zunes are part of anything.
The Zune Pass is $15/mo and allows you to download just about anything from the store. There are a few limitations from artists about certain albums or even entire catalogs that are not allowed to be downloaded using the pass, but most of the big stuff is there and won't cause a problem. You are allowed to download from a single Zune Pass to 3 Zunes. You may not burn or transfer or play any of the songs in other players, as they are heavily protected to prevent people from doing so.
If you cancel your account, depending on how often you sync your Zune, you will lose access to EVERYTHING you downloaded using the pass (though any music actually purchased is still accessible).
If you like a LOT of bands and want to catch up on back catalogs as well as keep up with everything coming out, as well as exploring new music as it comes out, the Zune Pass is for you. You can even subscribe to channels that automatically download and sync new music for you so you can find new stuff and then go and download the full albums later.
If you listen to local radio through the Zune, you may also ID any song you are listening to, and with WiFi access, and then download that song using your Zune Pass from the marketplace onto your Zune. Likewise, with WiFi, you can browse the store using your Zune and download new music without a computer.
So my 80gb is getting really slow at times. For example, the zune will freeze for 4-5 seconds (but still play music) when I:
- I bring the menu (center click), do anything, then hit back
- I select next song or previous song (left and right click)
Also, occasionally, my zune will play a song while the second counter stays at zero. The song can play through the whole song at 0:00. Similarly, sometimes the timer moves (1 second, 2 seconds, etc), but not songs plays until I restart the song (left click or swipe).
Is it because I am using 75/80gb? Should I wipe the zune and reload the firmware and all data? Bahh so frustrating ...
So my 80gb is getting really slow at times. For example, the zune will freeze for 4-5 seconds (but still play music) when I:
- I bring the menu (center click), do anything, then hit back
- I select next song or previous song (left and right click)
Also, occasionally, my zune will play a song while the second counter stays at zero. The song can play through the whole song at 0:00. Similarly, sometimes the timer moves (1 second, 2 seconds, etc), but not songs plays until I restart the song (left click or swipe).
Is it because I am using 75/80gb? Should I wipe the zune and reload the firmware and all data? Bahh so frustrating ...
Upgrade to 3.1 yet? I've heard that the new update fixes some of the freezing/song playing problems.
Good, I had to check for updates manually in the Zune software last night to pick it up. The new games are awesome, especially the space wars!! Sudoku is nice when I need to kill some time quietly. Plus wifi Texas Hold'Em multiplayer is cool, though I haven't done it yet.
Okay am I the only one that had no idea that whenever I pay my zune pass suscription, I'm actually paying the month prior?
I recently lost my password to my account, and they couldn't email it to me because I no longer used the email that is tied to my account, and they told me that if I didn't know the password, I had no other option but to start a brand new account. I told them to cancel my membership then. A few days later, while playing with my old account, I manage to guess my password, so i resuscribed. Today I see a charge for five dollars from zune. Turns out those five dollars are for the period of time I supposedly owed. Apparently, the charge that went through on Oct27 did not cover me until Nov27, instead it paid for Sep27-Oct27.
The reason I had no idea was because I specifically remember being charged as soon as I activate my membership, and obviously I couldn't be charge for a month before that right? Turns out they charge you the first month, skip a month, and then charge you again, so that you end up paying retroactively. or at least, that's what the person on the phone told me..
Okay am I the only one that had no idea that whenever I pay my zune pass suscription, I'm actually paying the month prior?
I recently lost my password to my account, and they couldn't email it to me because I no longer used the email that is tied to my account, and they told me that if I didn't know the password, I had no other option but to start a brand new account. I told them to cancel my membership then. A few days later, while playing with my old account, I manage to guess my password, so i resuscribed. Today I see a charge for five dollars from zune. Turns out those five dollars are for the period of time I supposedly owed. Apparently, the charge that went through on Oct27 did not cover me until Nov27, instead it paid for Sep27-Oct27.
The reason I had no idea was because I specifically remember being charged as soon as I activate my membership, and obviously I couldn't be charge for a month before that right? Turns out they charge you the first month, skip a month, and then charge you again, so that you end up paying retroactively. or at least, that's what the person on the phone told me..
Okay am I the only one that had no idea that whenever I pay my zune pass suscription, I'm actually paying the month prior?
I recently lost my password to my account, and they couldn't email it to me because I no longer used the email that is tied to my account, and they told me that if I didn't know the password, I had no other option but to start a brand new account. I told them to cancel my membership then. A few days later, while playing with my old account, I manage to guess my password, so i resuscribed. Today I see a charge for five dollars from zune. Turns out those five dollars are for the period of time I supposedly owed. Apparently, the charge that went through on Oct27 did not cover me until Nov27, instead it paid for Sep27-Oct27.
The reason I had no idea was because I specifically remember being charged as soon as I activate my membership, and obviously I couldn't be charge for a month before that right? Turns out they charge you the first month, skip a month, and then charge you again, so that you end up paying retroactively. or at least, that's what the person on the phone told me..
Does that make sense?
That does seem a bit weird.
I know. I'm curious if maybe through some computer glitch there was a month that I wasn't charge(That seems to check out when I look through Quicken, my third month I wasn't charged) but they just gave me the spiel that it happens to everyone so that they wouldn't be considered at fault.
Doesn't rollover, but hey, it's still a pretty good deal; it's like buying 10 songs, and getting unlimited downloads for $5 more.
THAT IS INCREDIBLE!
As soon as I get my raise (Jan 1) I am so signing up for a Zune Pass! That takes the pass from cool but not so great in the long run to MUST HAVE! Depending on the length of the CD you wish to compare to, it's like a free CD each month!
Posts
I'm in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This totally does NOT reflect my experience. Zunes are all over Wal-Mart, etc. Obviously nothing matches the "mind share" of Apple's offerings, but Zunes are at least available in nearly all places that sell DAPs.
There was a linux build but it was plauged by memory leaks that could not be solved. I think they are working for a Mac version atm.
Then I hear there is liscensing issues in Canada.
First, Zune has the Subscription model, which may have screwed up some of the European and Canadian licensing deals, and MS is simply not big enough to force it's way like Apple is.
Second, and this is more of a random guess, MS may be having issues because they're still seen as the "Evil" corporation, where as Apple is the "Good Underdog" despite the falsehoods of these statements (for the most part)
There also may be another reason, in that they want to get some momentum going here in the US before trying to break into the "iPod is Cool" mentality, as they may have figured that trying to move overseas now would just make them fail.
FTC: HONK.
PAX Prime 2014 Resistance Tournament Winner
The main problem is that they only moved halfway into canada =p were they really expecting decent sales without giving canadian customers a legal way to buy music for it? They seem all the more silly for it since apple has had the itunes store up here for a few years
Maybe I've just never noticed this issue, or perhaps I misunderstand what you're saying here, but if it updates on the Zune's software then aren't you really seeing it immediately? I don't really see how it's bad software design to have potentially time-consuming operations delayed until such a time as the user is not 'busy' on the computer. Most people don't care if their file has been updated, but they do care if their computer is 'really slow.' I think they went for a perceived performance boost here.
I did have some issues with the tagging at some point but I'll freely admit it was, err, not typical usage.
I have to agree it's a bit annoying but I think the departure from Microsoft-y looks was exactly the point. In some ways I do find it more appealing, though. I recently re-installed iTunes so I could sync my iPhone (and holy balls, let me just say I appreciate the Zune marketplace a whole lot more now) and I found it kind of drab by comparison.
I think I'm still on the fence, though, I kinda like it but I kind of don't At the very least, the sorting features drive me nuts sometimes - but it's also very nice to just start typing and have my music filtered as I watch too, a feature that is NOT well advertised at all. It should have a little pop-up or something the first time you run the software.
Des
I guess as a power user I just wish that when I use a program to edit file metadata, it would update it when I clicked ok. Editing a single file or even an album's worth of files at once shouldn't be that processor intensive to really be noticeable by the user. I'm currently using Foobar2000 to do some mass tag editing before I import the files into the Zune software because it's that much faster and nicer than the Zune software. Plus it has some auto-tagging options I really was looking for.
I will admit that the Zune software is really nice for eye-candy, but when I want to do some heavy sorting and searching I really hit the limit of what it can provide me, plus it's cumbersome because it's highly graphical instead of easy to read text. But generally, yes, it's much nicer than just looking at a wall of text. I did have to turn down the graphics completely to run smoothly.
My biggest complaint I had during my 14 day pass trial was the marketplace's lack of sorting. I was going through the genres and it wouldn't let me resort the artists alphabetically or any other method. It only showed me by popularity which was absolutely stupid. It made it so hard to locate artists I was looking for to download during my trial.
On the plus side, I got my girlfriend (a decidedly non-power user) one of the small 8gb models when I bought mine last Christmas and I have not once had to go over to her apartment to 'fix her song thingy' the way I had to with iTunes.
It would definitely be nice to have an advanced mode of some kind or a more 'standard' skin though. Media Player pisses me off for this, as well, the way the menus work on it is beyond stupid and I have yet to figure out how to make the playlist viewer thing appear again after closing it.
Des
Anyone upgrade yet? I am updating now.
Upgraded Texas Hold'em with multiplayer and more features, as well as 3 new free games! (Checkers, Sudoku, and Space Battle)
How does the Zune pass work? I got Sirius hopeing to hear stuff I couldn't hear on normal radio. Will Zune pass help do the same? You know hear new things. Kinda like Pandora.
And is it a good time to get one? Any deals or bundles anyone has heard of? Or new devices coming out soon?
Haven't heard of any deals, but if something will show up, Black Friday and Christmas sales are the time they will. Check out some of the black friday sites for electronics and see if Zunes are part of anything.
The Zune Pass is $15/mo and allows you to download just about anything from the store. There are a few limitations from artists about certain albums or even entire catalogs that are not allowed to be downloaded using the pass, but most of the big stuff is there and won't cause a problem. You are allowed to download from a single Zune Pass to 3 Zunes. You may not burn or transfer or play any of the songs in other players, as they are heavily protected to prevent people from doing so.
If you cancel your account, depending on how often you sync your Zune, you will lose access to EVERYTHING you downloaded using the pass (though any music actually purchased is still accessible).
If you like a LOT of bands and want to catch up on back catalogs as well as keep up with everything coming out, as well as exploring new music as it comes out, the Zune Pass is for you. You can even subscribe to channels that automatically download and sync new music for you so you can find new stuff and then go and download the full albums later.
If you listen to local radio through the Zune, you may also ID any song you are listening to, and with WiFi access, and then download that song using your Zune Pass from the marketplace onto your Zune. Likewise, with WiFi, you can browse the store using your Zune and download new music without a computer.
- I bring the menu (center click), do anything, then hit back
- I select next song or previous song (left and right click)
Also, occasionally, my zune will play a song while the second counter stays at zero. The song can play through the whole song at 0:00. Similarly, sometimes the timer moves (1 second, 2 seconds, etc), but not songs plays until I restart the song (left click or swipe).
Is it because I am using 75/80gb? Should I wipe the zune and reload the firmware and all data? Bahh so frustrating ...
I've downloaded and installed the correct software but when I plug in my Zune it says there was an error and it can't install the device.
I've tried removing it and adding it again and all that jazz; I just can't figure out what is up.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Upgrade to 3.1 yet? I've heard that the new update fixes some of the freezing/song playing problems.
[edit] got it.
Right click -> Run as Admin?
I recently lost my password to my account, and they couldn't email it to me because I no longer used the email that is tied to my account, and they told me that if I didn't know the password, I had no other option but to start a brand new account. I told them to cancel my membership then. A few days later, while playing with my old account, I manage to guess my password, so i resuscribed. Today I see a charge for five dollars from zune. Turns out those five dollars are for the period of time I supposedly owed. Apparently, the charge that went through on Oct27 did not cover me until Nov27, instead it paid for Sep27-Oct27.
The reason I had no idea was because I specifically remember being charged as soon as I activate my membership, and obviously I couldn't be charge for a month before that right? Turns out they charge you the first month, skip a month, and then charge you again, so that you end up paying retroactively. or at least, that's what the person on the phone told me..
Does that make sense?
That does seem a bit weird.
I know. I'm curious if maybe through some computer glitch there was a month that I wasn't charge(That seems to check out when I look through Quicken, my third month I wasn't charged) but they just gave me the spiel that it happens to everyone so that they wouldn't be considered at fault.
Im on the admin account.
The zune software installs fine, and when I plug the zune in it reads it as a zune, it just gives me a device error.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Doesn't rollover, but hey, it's still a pretty good deal; it's like buying 10 songs, and getting unlimited downloads for $5 more.
damn you Q-Tip
THAT IS INCREDIBLE!
As soon as I get my raise (Jan 1) I am so signing up for a Zune Pass! That takes the pass from cool but not so great in the long run to MUST HAVE! Depending on the length of the CD you wish to compare to, it's like a free CD each month!
Check the firmware? I don't know, try calling Zune CS? They actually aren't that bad.
Wait what do you mean 'doesn't rollover?'
It sounds like you get 10 songs for november, and then 10 more for december, etc.
I think he means if you only use 8 in november you still only get 10 in december, not 12.
Oh.
Well if you have a zune pass and only get 8 songs to download, you shouldn't even have a zune pass to begin with.
Oh well. This is a superb deal.
Yeah really. I might pick it up as well, even though I hardly has any monies.
PS - Local_H_Jay
Sub me on Youtube
And Twitch
You guys want the BBCode for my spiffy Zune coloring link thing? It's spiffy.
I wish they had a sig-style image for the social card.
Would you post the BBCode?
EDIT:
Anyone capable of converting that for use with BBCode?
EDIT 2:
Apparently someone created a BBCode mod to allow a [ zunecard ] [ /zunecard ] tag. Seems to be the only real way.
http://card.mygamercard.net/apps/zune/YOURZUNEID.png
If you use spaces in your name, replace them with + So mine would be http://card.mygamercard.net/apps/zune/ArcSyn.png
It updates every 30 minutes.