Microsoft Hits A New Note , digital music player at the iPod

After five years of dominating the digital music player market, Apple now has competition from that "other" computer company.
Microsoft Zune – the software giant's answer to the Apple iPod – makes its debut Tuesday, a rollout conveniently coinciding with the holiday shoppping season.
Will Zune be the pricey stocking stuffer of the year? Microsoft sure hopes so.
I've had a chance to test the new digital music player and, while it does do everything the iPod does and more, I'm not convinced it will take a bite out of Apple's market share – at least not yet.
Although it comes in three colors – brown, black and white – there is really only one version of Zune, which stores 30 gigabytes of music, photos and video and sells for $249.00. That's the same price as Apple's 30GB iPod, but Apple offers a whole crop of iPods - ranging from the 1GB $79 shuffle to the 80GB $349 model.
When you hold a Zune next to an iPod of the same capacity, the first thing you notice is that Zune is larger, thicker, heavier and – dare I say – a bit more awkward-looking. Zune weighs 5.6 ounces – 17 percent more than Apple's 30GB iPod. At .6 inches in depth, it's 40 percent thicker and a bit taller than the iPod. But weight and dimensions don't tell the whole story. The iPod has a polished, finished look to it; Zune looks and feels, well, just a little bit cheaper.
But looks aren't everything. When it comes to performance, Zune delivers the goods. Its software is quite easy to use, making it a cinch to sync your digital music collection from your PC to Zune. The sound is excellent but photos, videos and album covers look more grainy than they do on the iPod's smaller screen.
Zune has a couple of features you won't find on any iPod. For example, it has a built-in FM tuner that can scan for stations and choose your favorites as pre-sets. Apple offers an FM radio as an accessory, but it's not built into the product.

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Click here to hear Larry Magid's podcast interview of Microsoft's Matt Jubelirer on what Zune can and cannot do.

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