Does Microsoft’s third-generation offering, Zune, deliver on the “iPod killer” hype?
No. And there’s virtually no disagreement on this point. After months of showing off Zune to mostly friendly audiences – music bloggers and techies who were willing to be convinced that Microsoft could possibly offer a solution to some amorphous problem Apple had supposedly created – the Washington-based company delivered demo units at the very last minute to mainstream reviewers, who to their credit have roundly described Zune as yet another forgettable iPod wannabe. Just as is the case with every year’s iPod challengers, Microsoft has been offered tepid praise for one or two features, but most writers have pointed out that Zune lacks at least ten of the iPod’s capabilities, ranging from the obvious (the ability to be used as a hard disk, and play games) to the subtle (volume limit, and alarm clock). The few reviewers who have actually tested the battery have discovered that it doesn’t meet Microsoft’s promise of even matching the standard iPod’s 14-hour run time, which is now actuall
