Zune vs. iTunes

Simply put, the Zune music software is far superior to iTunes.

The problem was, Apple flooded the mp3 player market a few years ago with the iPod. I myself never cared for the iPod. Because of this, everybody is stuck using iTunes to organize their music. Problem is, iTunes sucks. Why would I want iTunes to make a separate copy of every song I have in my library, and turn it into an inferior AAC file? I don't. I don't buy single songs, and I don't do playlists. I buy full albums and listen to full albums. And if I'm gonna spend the money, I certainly don't want to download the album in a stripped down AAC version file. I prefer to buy CD's, rip them onto my computer in .wma lossless format, full CD quality. I want to take all my music with me, so I put them on my Zune and take them with me, all 50G of my music right there in my pocket, in full CD quality. I don't waste time with cheap "standard issue" headphones, I pay good money for a nice pair of inner ear, noise isolating earbuds. Through these earphones, I can clearly hear the difference in sound quality.

Now, the Zune software is only compatible with one digital music player, the Microsoft Zune. I prefer the interface much more over the iPod, personal preference. I paid only $250 for my 80 gig Zune, and love it. (As a special promotion, I even got my favorite Brand New lyric engraved on the back, for free).

The controls and interface within the Zune software is very easy to navigate and use, much more so than iTunes, and it doesn't try to control my whole computer like iTunes wants to. The "now playing" screen is amazing, with multiple animations. The newest version, pictures of the band fade in and out, with text overlaid with info about the song, the album, the band, etc. It even shows up with the number of plays that particular song has had by all registered Zune users. The Zune network is a community of music lovers, all connected by the music they love.

Now for purchasing music. iTunes has one option, you pay $.99 per song, or however much for the album. You may do the same through Zune, but they also offer a subscription model. For $15 a month, you can download as much music as you want, and have the media usage rights as long as you subscribe. For people who listen to a wide array of music, this is perfect. Also, the software is compatible with more audio file types, so it will gather and play all your music, whether its wma, mp3, wav, or AAC, as well as multiple picture and video formats. It gives more freedom than iTunes does, and it doesn't make a separate copy, like iTunes does.

Microsoft is much further along in the software functionality and features. In the most recent iTunes update, many of the "new features" were features that Zune has had for 2 years. But iTunes isn't "catching up," microsoft is pushing its Zune music software much further than any other music organizing software on the market, and they continue to be on the edge of development. Zune users are very happy, and very satisfied, with very few complaints, (the software runs a little slow if you have an old computer). I hear many complaints about iTunes, and even with a great system and the newest update, my iTunes still runs fritzy and slow. I am forced to put up with iTunes to sync my iPhone. It is a great phone, I love it, I always say it was the best purchase I ever made. However, when it comes to music, I still us my Zune, and always will. Nobody is even close.