I'm no Zune hater--really
The new the 4GB and 8GB Zunes will come in red, green, pink and black. The larger 80GB model comes in black only.
(Credit: Microsoft)Some people commenting on my most recent post have accused me of being a Microsoft-hater. That's ironic, given my job. (See my bio below.)
To be perfectly clear, I use a 30GB original Zune as my primary music player, after my fourth-generation iPod died about a year and a month out of warranty.
I think my Zune's onscreen interface is great. I love the way I can create on-the-fly playlists and switch to random shuffle from within any song (not possible on the fourth-generation iPod, fixed in the fifth-generation). And I prefer the way it natively plays all the WMA files on my computer. (I have a big library of vinyl ripped using Microsoft's now-discontinued Digital Media Plus Pack for Windows XP.)
But...the Zune client software is poor compared with iTunes. Zune's software mangles user-entered metadata by trying to auto-update it without permission; it lacks certain playback functions (no EQ or gapless playback); and it seems to have performance problems--this on a Dell XPS G2, not exactly a doorstop.
I'm hoping they fixed these problems with the new Zunes.
Also, I've never found the Wi-Fi sharing useful--not only because I don't know anybody else with a Zune (the "first man with a telephone" problem), but also because of the three days/plays restriction (not Microsoft's fault, but the fault of the content owners.)
I will concede that the 4GB and 8GB Zunes stack up pretty well against the iPod Nanos. They have a built-in Wi-Fi transceiver and FM radio tuner; the Nanos don't. That's worth the extra 99 cents.
My broader point is simply that Microsoft is not keeping up with Apple's pace of innovation.
You can dismiss the touchscreen and Wi-Fi iTunes store as gimmickry, but they're new, they're immediately intuitive, and people are excited--I saw huge crowds in the Apple Store the day after they were announced, and nearly everybody was asking to demo the iPod Touch (which wasn't in the store until a few weeks later).
The point for Microsoft: you can't expect people to choose a newcomer over the leader unless you're clearly better, or clearly cheaper. The new generation of Zune makes it a credible music player, but I don't see anything really superior to what the iPod offers.
Then again, Microsoft's goal is to be No. 2 in this generation, and if you don't want an iPod, the Zune is a good choice. I'm certainly keeping mine, and looking forward to testing it with the new software.
It's just...if I didn't already have one, I'd buy an iPod. I was hoping Zune 2 would be great enough to make me say otherwise.
Matt Rosoff is an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, where he covers Microsoft's consumer products and corporate news. He's written about the technology industry since 1995, and reviewed the first Rio MP3 player for CNET.com in 1998. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network. Disclosure. You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattrosoff. 
My song library contains about 4500 songs. I have each track rated but in iTunes I would like to have a more specific ranking system. With Zune I can assign a song in increments (4.5 stars, 3.75 stars, etc) and really build some detailed (and for me) useful playlists.
I will admit that visually the iTunes coverflow is unbeatable and is just a stunning way to browse through your library. However, I do really like the summaries that the search feature displays with Zune. I can type in ?Neil Young? and see that I have 14 of his albums, or I have five songs that have the word ?wild? in their title ? I find little discoveries like that cool. But all the better if Microsoft can retain all of the functionality of the Zune software while making it prettier to look at.
I am also really stoked at the Zune?s integration with Windows Media Center. Having unlimited (and free) content that I can record off of broadcast media and watch at my leisure when I?m on the go - that could be huge. But frankly the fact that the new software features will be supported by all Zunes is a dealmaker for me. There is the innovation. I get to use my existing Vista OS in an enhanced way at no additional charge. I get to make decisions about what hardware to use, since they all get updated. I have more choices about what media formats my player is compatible with. I have never used more than 30 GB of my 60GB iPod. I have also never been a fan of touch wheels ? I always slide past my desired selection, only to pass it up again after overcompensating, and on and on. So I am going to buy a new ?old? Zune at a fantastic price and benefit from Microsoft?s integration and software support.