The Zune software provides you a way to view and sync your music, video, picture, and podcast collection, but it also helps you find new music and get more information about the music you love. As shown in Figure 9, it has a clean, clear interface.

click to enlarge
 Figure 9: The Zune software.

Just as iTunes has its iTunes store, the Zune has the Zune Marketplace. This is a place where you can purchase music, TV shows, and videos, but it is also a place where you can find new music. Each week you get recommendations based on the music that you have listened to. You will also get recommendations of other Zune users who have similar tastes.

The Zune also supports a subscription music service, called the Zune Pass. For $14.99 a month, Zune owners can download almost any of the 3 million+ tracks in the Zune Marketplace. As long as you keep your subscription active you can listen to this wealth of music on your computer and on your player. In fact, you can listen on up to three computers and three players. In addition you get to choose 10 songs each month to add to your permanent collection. These songs stay with you even if you cancel your subscription. A new Zune comes with a two week trial subscription. We suggest that you spend some time in those two weeks to really get to know the Zune software and marketplace.

There is so much available in the Zune software that it is almost mind-boggling. Yet to a real music lover, it allows you to be immersed in the information about and sounds of the music your love. You can subscribe to channels which are updated weekly. These channels may feature the top billboard hits,  a music genre that you are particularly attracted to, or even the top music on a certain radio station. You can even subscribe to channels with music that is timed to your heartbeat when you walk, run, or jog.

One point of possible confusion is that you can peruse the Zune marketplace online, but to control your music and/or access the downloads for your subscription, you need to access the Zune software on your computer. The same point of confusion exists for neophytes who try to use the iTunes software and the iTunes store.

The Zune is all about sharing music. One of the main menu choices is called “Social”. As previously stated, this allows you to send music to others from your device, but in the software you can also use the Social area to discover new music, share favorites with others and email and IM friends.

One of the coolest new features of the Zune software is called the Mixview. This feature gives you a dynamic representation of your music collection. When playing a song on the computer you can click on Mixview to dive deeper into the music that is playing. You can get more information about the artist, recommendations of similar music, and even the history of the song and/or artist. Mix view has an attractive graphic presentation. We found that it could lead us to so much information and so many new music choices that we could easily spend hours delving into Mixview information.

This is just one example of the depth of the Zune software. We found that all of the Zune Marketplace and the Zune software filled with ways to explore and enjoy music.