My Experiences with the Zune Marketplace

[yensed]

The first thing you'll notice about the Zune software, even from the installation screen, is the program is sleek, dark and shiny. The installation is pretty simple and straightforward. During the installation, the Zune software will search through your computer and find ALL your Pictures, Videos and Music then list it all within the program. Personally, I didn't like that.

The first feature of the Zune software I tried was the ability to find Album art for your songs. Unlike other programs that go out and find the album art for your music and set it automatically, the Zune software shows you a list of albums based on the Title and Artist (and any other information the song file contains). From that list, you choose which album you think the song originated from. Its really easy to do, just time consuming if you've got a lot of music with no Album Art.

The 2nd feature I tried was the Equalizer(EQ). I immediately noticed that the EQ only has 7 options - Acoustic, Classical, Electronica, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop and Rock. I found Jazz to be my preference for almost every song I played...

Next thing I decided to do was check out the Marketplace. It has all the things you'd expect such as Top Songs, Top Albums, New Releases, Featured Artists etc. All the songs have a 30-second preview which you play when you double click on the title. One thing I did notice that was new to me was that the marketplace has a Charts page where you can see the Current Top Songs and Albums in the marketplace, as well as the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100. You can even explore the Billboard charts all the way back to 1946!

Something everyone keeps mentioning is the marketplace doesn't have as many songs as other Music Stores. This is true. But like all the other music stores out there, it will grow over time. But the songs it Does have may surprise you. I was able to find some artists and albums that I could Not find on iTunes. Including AC/DC(Wo0T) ..

After browsing the Marketplace for a while I decided to view some photos and videos(Both of which it so "Conveniently" found automatically). Browsing through pictures is as simple as browsing through your music. You can choose to see your pictures as thumbnails, file names or Both. It took about 1.5 seconds for an image that is 2592x1952 to load to load full size, which isn't bad at all. It took the same amount of time when switching from one image to another. Videos are also something that is simple to find and play. You use the same controls when watching videos as the ones you use when playing music. The videos start to play instantly and can continue to play as you browse the marketplace. You can even see it playing in the top right area of the program.

The Zune software is just like all other software. It has its limitations and bugs. But it also has some things it does flawlessly and uniquely. Over time the Bugs will get worked out, Limitations will become less limiting and what makes the program Unique will just be built upon. I started off not liking the Zune Marketplace that much. It took some getting used to.. There are still some thing I'm not that fond of, such as how it automatically finds all your media. But in total, I like it. It can only keep getting better.

Dan-/-yensed
:icon_pidu:

[lpxxfaintxx]

I'm glad you like it. I didn't like it at first either, but then I figured out some buttons, and got used to it.

[yensed]

I hope at some point they offer the ability to change the theme/colors of the software. Its nice looking and all, But it would be nice to have a Brown version to match the Brown Zune .

Nice first Article.

[yensed]

Originally Posted by Mys Videl

Nice first Article.

Thank You. Personally, I thought it wasn't that good. Things like this have never really been my strong suite.

[Zuneologist]

thank you for your opinions

[acolyteofdoom]

I was able to find some artists and albums that I could Not find on iTunes. Including AC/DC(Wo0T) ..

I just wanted to add that yes, there are artists that aren't on iTunes, but the music is not available to download or sample in the Marketplace.

Good article yensed, I'm looking forward to more columns by you.

[waternut13134]

whats going on with some of the music that you cant sample of veiw.will it be fixed tommow.thanks

[DUI_]

wow, cant wait to get mine!

[hugecool]

thats the weird thing about marketplace. they dont have some mainstream albums..(yet) though i notice its building by the day...but they have some obscure Gospel albums that I was sure wouldnt be there....weird!

[Daskins]

Thanks for this, Yensed! Just the kind of info I've been searching for - some real world opinions and ideas about how the Zune and all the associated softs perform!

[yensed]

Originally Posted by eddt

Thanks for this, Yensed! Just the kind of info I've been searching for - some real world opinions and ideas about how the Zune and all the associated softs perform!

Thank you, I appreciate that. Welcome to ZuneBoards!:chug:

[Michael Boutros]

I personally don't mind it too much and would even use it all the time if they could do one thing: minimize to tray like with iTunes. The little gadget thingy is out of the way but I can still control all my music and stuff.

[yensed]

Originally Posted by Michael Boutros

I personally don't mind it too much and would even use it all the time if they could do one thing: minimize to tray like with iTunes. The little gadget thingy is out of the way but I can still control all my music and stuff.

I know what you mean. That was a cool little iTunes feature I used all the time.
P.S. Welcome to the board, Michael!