Zune vs iTunes

Why Should You Switch To Zune (Software) Today…

Note: All of the Screenshots provided below are extracted from my personal use and none from the internet. 

Media organizing software is a must for music-geeks but finding the right one can be difficult at times. If you are one of those who still maintains a library in your ‘Windows Default Media Player’, God help you.  After exploring multiple options it is quite safe to say that Industry giants ‘Apple’ and ‘Microsoft’ offer the best that there is. Open Source Community offering ‘Songbird’ or ‘Winamp’ also provides some solutions but land nowhere near what ‘iTunes’ or ‘Zune’ brings to the market.

iTunes was first introduced at 2001 Macworld Expo and soon took over the world by storm owing partially to an ‘iPod’ must software and majorly due to ‘pay-per-song’ download feature in iTunes Store.  Still, People looking for a better alternative will now find a respite by media player introduced by Microsoft.

Microsoft launched ‘Zune’ (pocket player) to compete with its arch rival Apple’s ‘iPod’ and it failed miserably. It could not bring down the Apple market share but declined its own.  But in this process Microsoft created excellent software for Zune – ‘Microsoft Zune’.  Go figure.

Given below are the various aspects of comparison between iTunes and Zune.

Boot Speed ->

iTunes: 9-10 seconds. (P.S. If your processor is not updated you might want to make a sandwich while iTunes starts).

Zune: 2-3 seconds.

 

                                                             (Had a hard time getting this start up screenshot)

Interface->

[Welcome Screen]

iTunes: What welcome screen? You’re simply directed towards your library.

Zune:  On opening, it provides you with Quickplay tab, which opens up a whole new world with ‘Pins’ (any media file in the library can be pinned for future reference), ‘New’ and ‘History’. 

[Now Playing]

iTunes: It gives no interactive details to ‘Now Playing’ option but a visualizer is provided to amuse you.

Zune: It provides enormous graphic detail with a huge collage of albums in your library acting as a background to the ‘Now Playing’ screen. 

  

(Offline Mode) 

                             

 (Online it provides Artist’s screenshots as background) 

[Mix View]

iTunes:  A-Mix-a-what?

Zune: Mixview gives you easier access to ‘Artists influenced by’, ‘Related Albums’ or ‘Top Listeners’ tabs whilst your music plays.

 

[Mini Player] 

iTunes:  It does have a high point of equalizer display but provides no information about the next song in the playlist.

  

Zune: Although, no equalizer is provided, it gives sleek playlists details. One major drawback though, Volume Level can’t be monitored (How did the developers miss that!!!)

 

 

[Background Selection]

iTunes: No provision.

Zune: It offers choice to the user to apply one of the multiple available background options.

 

[Library]

iTunes:  In this department, iTunes does not lag behind at all. The interface provided is much simplistic and detailed as Zune, if not better.

                     

(Coverflow View)

 (Genre View)

Similar view available for Albums, Artists and Composers.

Zune: Continuing with superb interactivity and visuals, the library is sorted in as many ways possible.

 

 (Artist View)

(Genre View)

(Album View)

(Song View)

File Import->

iTunes: It requires constant addition of files and folders to your library manually.

 

Zune:  It automatically add files to your library which is one placed in Managing folder (Long Live Metadata). No need to further manually import files in your library. Is that a relief or what?? 

  

Video Playback->

iTunes: It plays all the major video formats (don’t start comparing it with VLC).  HD Videos are played without major hindrances.

   

 

                           (Screen shot of a HD Castle episode bought from iTunes Store)

Zune: It lacks a bit in this area as HD Videos fail to play in majority of the situations, although important video formats has no problem running. 

 

Rating System-> 

iTunes: 1-5 stars to a song can be credited.

 

Zune: Rating is given by either a broken heart (for a dislike) or a heart (for a like). This rating is way too amateurish and lacks application. 

Autofill->

iTunes: Supported. Autofill in all the fields is provided by iTunes.

 

Zune: No Support Provided. You need to type the whole thing. 

 

Genius Mixes or Smart DJ ->

iTunes:  ‘Genius Mix’ was introduced by iTunes to help user find similar songs in his/her library. It requires you to send entire library information to iTunes and based on that lists of analogous songs are merged with one another in the library. The process itself is very lengthy and tiresome although the results returned are satisfying.

Zune: Based on similar lines, Zune introduced ‘Smart DJ’ which is simpler to access and instead of song similarities it goes for similar artists. The results returned are not that accurate as iTunes but way faster.
  

Picture Display ->

iTunes: No support for Picture Display.

Zune: Integrates pictures in your library (again extracted by metadata) in form of slideshows with simultaneous playback of songs supported.

iTunes Store and Zune Marketplace ->

iTunes: iTunes store is way more diverse and holds like a million songs more than Zune. This is partially due to earlier establishment and heavier commercialization of ‘Download a Song’ concept introduced by Apple. 

(iTunes Store)

(Purchased TV Show)

Zune: Zune marketplace has to go a long way to compete with iTunes Store. It has time but it’s heavily doubtful whether it will affect any market share.

Podcasts->

iTunes: Similar to the above pattern, iTunes has tons more podcasts than Zune.

Zune: Needs more exposure to bring increment in this sector. 

 (Podcasts in Collection)

 (Podcasts in Marketplace)

Ping and Zune Social ->

iTunes: Ping was introduced under heavy anticipation but it has failed to succeed. News of Facebook integration was a fresh change but there seems to be a stand-off between the two franchises. 

Zune: Zune Social (like Ping) is based on concept similar to last.fm but is more interactive and simplistic. You can see what your friends are listening to, make friends with like-minded people or even earn badges. Very few listeners are currently tuned in so it needs heavy exposure to come to forefront.

(Recently Played Songs)

(Top Artists)

(Badges Earned)

(Friend List)

At the end of the day, People who do not own an iPod nor use iTunes Store should immediately switch to Zune for a better musical experience. For people with iPod and frequent user of iTunes Store, iTunes becomes a pre-requisite but Zune can always be used for playing media files in your system.

 

Both software are free and provided below is the link to each:

Zune: (Recommended) http://www.zune.net/en-us/products/software/default.htm


iTunes:  http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/