The Microsoft Zune has very good playback performance of audio, video, and photos; intuitive and colorful interface; good FM radio with RDS; works well with Zune Marketplace software; integrated wireless allows sharing of songs (limited) and photos; many accessories available at launch.

Features:
Here’s where things get tricky, particularly if you’re a hard-core portable-media fan. The unit will play back MP3, protected WMA (the Zune-kind only called WMA-DRM9.1), and unprotected AAC. No native Audible, WAV, or WMA Lossless playback. If you have $200 worth of Wal-Mart tracks, you’re in trouble. (You’ll have to burn and rip, or find some way to convert). If you’re into subscription services, the $14.95-per-month ZunePass is your only choice.

Video support is worse. There is no video content available for purchase on the Zune Marketplace at launch. (It will, however, feature more than two million tracks, both a la carte and subscription.) It supports WMV natively–Zune software will convert MPEG-4 and H264 files to WMV–but it does not support DRM video, so, no Amazon Unbox and no Vongo. The software will not support DivX or XviD either, so you’ll have to find a third-party conversion method. Too bad the video support is weak, since the three-inch screen is nice (beats the iPod), and the player controls are precise. (Video does feature unlimited bookmarking.) The device can output to a TV full on with the Zune GUI, but videos play back only at the compressed-for-Zune size. Microsoft has some work ahead if it wants to transform this music-centric device into a competitive video device. Media Center support would have given the Zune a nice source for content. But again, it’s not a matter of the hardware–it’s because Microsoft seeks to simplify the experience, presumably for new buyers of portable players, and then expand features as the Zune community grows and evolves.

Photo support is limited to JPEGs, and the Zune software will not convert other file types as it would in Windows Media Player. We do love that you can wirelessly beam photos to other users with no limitations, though the feature is useless without other Zunesters in site. You can listen to music while viewing photos and slide shows, but you can’t assign a song to a specific slide show. Slides show transitions happen in increments from 3 to 15 seconds, with only one transition type, which is fade. While viewing a photo, you can zoom in with one step and navigate around the screen.

The FM-radio interface is minimal and simple to use. On-screen, you see a linear, dial-like line with the station above it in large numerals. There seems to be unlimited available presets, but no autoscan for them. Instead, the device can be put in autoscan mode, which simply goes to the next clean channel. We do like the built-in RDS (radio data system) feature that will display the station, the genre, and sometimes the song title on certain compatible channels.

Body design:
At 4.3×2.5×0.7 inches, the Zune may be a bit thicker (and blockier) than the 30GB iPod, but it feels right at home in the hand. In my opinion, it’s a nice size and weight (5.6 ounces)–neither too thin to hold nor too big to pocket, though others in the office say it’s bulky and have even compared it to a prototype