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Here is the Zune website. I have Zunepass which is a subscription service, $15/month. This gives you complete access to the entire zune marketplace library of music, which is virtually limitless. I have found that some lesser-known older albums may not be available, but 99% of what I search for is there. The pass is good for up to 3 devices. Basically you get to download whatever you want (think of it as renting), and as long as you keep up the subscription, it is yours forever. The $15 also includes 10 song credits per month, which you can use to purchase 10 songs. Songs you purchase will obviously work even if you stop paying the subscription.
For me, I was easily spending $15 or more each month on music anyways buying MP3s from Amazon. Now, I have every new album the day it comes out, I have ALL the old albums I used to have CDs for back in college or whatever but were long-lost. I have playlists that are 100 songs + such as best hip-hop of 2009 or all CMA nominated songs. There are channels you can subscribe to that auto-update with new music. You can "heart" songs or albums you like, and Zune will suggest new music for you to listen to based on that (and since it is part of the subscription why not download it and check it out?) If you play XBOX 360 is is linked to your account, and you have access to the Zune marketplace through the 360. The user experience, look and feel of the OS is hands-down better than iPhone or iPod (IMO). It connects to your wifi network and can synch with your collection wirelessly, or you can search/download content directly from the device without connecting to a computer.
The rented content can't be burned to a CD (unless you buy it with song credits or cash). But, I have a docking station for my living room and bedroom (more on that in a minute), and it works with the stock Ford nav unit (non-nav as well I would assume), and also the Zune software on my PC has a copy of all my downloaded content. So everywhere I listen to music, I just bring it with me. I have never found myself saying "if I could only burn this music to a disk".. The docking stations are $100 but well worth it. When docked, you can output to your TV, and have the browsing menu on your TV, where you can still connect to the internet and search/download content, play your music, etc. When you are playing music the TV displays a "screensaver" that has various pictures of the artist, and scrolling song name, etc. Nothing too special there except that it is a much better way to interact with your device then what the iPod docks provide.
It is for all those reasons that I say it is a much better device than anything Apple is making. My ONLY beef is that for whatever reason 3rd party support in aftermarket HUs is non-existent. Which is annoying because all it would take is a simple software driver, the Zune connects through USB. I would think Microsoft would be pushing this software compatibility to the manufacturers even if it had to pay them or give it away, just to make it more attractive. I hope that comes with time because in my other car I have to connect it through 3.5mm line-in, which just means I have to control it through the device instead of the HU.
And if you like the Zune interface, wait until you see the new Windows 7 phones coming out near the end of this year. You can check that out
here. If you have any other questions feel free to PM!
Full disclosure: I do not work for microsoft, own any microsoft stock, or have any other attachment to microsoft. I just think they finally made a really great product. :yes:
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