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- 5,707
Xbox Music - Xbox.com
It's official, it's a post-Zune era.
I've been using the beta app since the RTM was released, I'm holding some reservations until the final build is released on the 26th. Honestly, I've been spoiled by Zune, if you're not a Zune user in any way shape or form from the desktop software to the player itself, Xbox Music might seem pretty cool. But to me, Zune is still king and will be until I get a Windows Phone 8. The sucky part is that Microsoft is keeping Xbox Music exclusive to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 oddly.
The thing I have my reservations about is the UI in general and the Now Playing visualizer. UGH... It's like Zune lite. Install the Zune software and play a song from a pretty popular artist like The Beatles or LMFAO and go the Now Playing visualizer, it is audio/video glory. It's straight up GORGEOUS. Xbox Music, not so much. Zune's UI is so neat and so metro and so refined, Xbox Music to me feels like Zune 2 or something. It's not eloquent. It looks kind of good, but not great. I HATE the sidebar that by default appears and takes about 40 percent of the screen and I HATE how the album mosaic just HAS TO HAVE random album covers from the Marketplace like Green Day, or Lady Gaga, or justin beiber. If you're not online and you do that, it just has awful icons in place of them. And the color filters for the album mosaic is just bleh. It's worse than using the Zune with literally no graphical fluff to it whatsoever. What also I don't like with it is that in Zune, the Now Playing visualizer would have scrolling, translucent text of the artist's bio with the amount of times that song has been played and/or just have huge text of the band name and song title and it would all be animated. It made for something you can literally sit and watch, it's just very cool and interesting. None of that with Xbox Music as far as I can tell. Navigation is another story altogether, Zune still wins.
I don't know, it probably will be better, just as Zune 1 isn't like Zune 4.8. But gee, it'll be a rough transition as some things will be lost, some things will be gained. I have an attachment to Zune with not only it being awesome, but without the Zune player itself and without the software counterpart, we wouldn't be here today discussing Windows 8 like this. Without it, Windows Phone wouldn't had happened the way it did. That part of Microsoft might had been gone forever. Without it, Windows 8 wouldn't had undergone the hugest UI changes in almost two decades. Without it, the Xbox probably wouldn't be hugely poised as a cable box replacement and wouldn't have a huge role other than just gaming. Without it, we wouldn't be here discussing tablet PCs and oogling at the Surface tablets. Nokia would probably gone bankrupt as Windows Phone wouldn't be there to give the company a breath of fresh air that might just in fact save it. If it weren't for a failed mp3 player that came far too late after the ipod and wasn't a good iteration until it was just too late, it wouldn't had given rise to many different things and wouldn't had given rise to a new Microsoft ecosystem that compared to others, just doesn't exist. There isn't one that has TV and gaming, PC computing, and powerful mobility like this. To me, Zune is still king.
It's official, it's a post-Zune era.
I've been using the beta app since the RTM was released, I'm holding some reservations until the final build is released on the 26th. Honestly, I've been spoiled by Zune, if you're not a Zune user in any way shape or form from the desktop software to the player itself, Xbox Music might seem pretty cool. But to me, Zune is still king and will be until I get a Windows Phone 8. The sucky part is that Microsoft is keeping Xbox Music exclusive to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 oddly.
The thing I have my reservations about is the UI in general and the Now Playing visualizer. UGH... It's like Zune lite. Install the Zune software and play a song from a pretty popular artist like The Beatles or LMFAO and go the Now Playing visualizer, it is audio/video glory. It's straight up GORGEOUS. Xbox Music, not so much. Zune's UI is so neat and so metro and so refined, Xbox Music to me feels like Zune 2 or something. It's not eloquent. It looks kind of good, but not great. I HATE the sidebar that by default appears and takes about 40 percent of the screen and I HATE how the album mosaic just HAS TO HAVE random album covers from the Marketplace like Green Day, or Lady Gaga, or justin beiber. If you're not online and you do that, it just has awful icons in place of them. And the color filters for the album mosaic is just bleh. It's worse than using the Zune with literally no graphical fluff to it whatsoever. What also I don't like with it is that in Zune, the Now Playing visualizer would have scrolling, translucent text of the artist's bio with the amount of times that song has been played and/or just have huge text of the band name and song title and it would all be animated. It made for something you can literally sit and watch, it's just very cool and interesting. None of that with Xbox Music as far as I can tell. Navigation is another story altogether, Zune still wins.
I don't know, it probably will be better, just as Zune 1 isn't like Zune 4.8. But gee, it'll be a rough transition as some things will be lost, some things will be gained. I have an attachment to Zune with not only it being awesome, but without the Zune player itself and without the software counterpart, we wouldn't be here today discussing Windows 8 like this. Without it, Windows Phone wouldn't had happened the way it did. That part of Microsoft might had been gone forever. Without it, Windows 8 wouldn't had undergone the hugest UI changes in almost two decades. Without it, the Xbox probably wouldn't be hugely poised as a cable box replacement and wouldn't have a huge role other than just gaming. Without it, we wouldn't be here discussing tablet PCs and oogling at the Surface tablets. Nokia would probably gone bankrupt as Windows Phone wouldn't be there to give the company a breath of fresh air that might just in fact save it. If it weren't for a failed mp3 player that came far too late after the ipod and wasn't a good iteration until it was just too late, it wouldn't had given rise to many different things and wouldn't had given rise to a new Microsoft ecosystem that compared to others, just doesn't exist. There isn't one that has TV and gaming, PC computing, and powerful mobility like this. To me, Zune is still king.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1 Pro
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- System Manufacturer/Model
- ASUS
- CPU
- AMD FX 8320
- Motherboard
- Crosshair V Formula-Z
- Memory
- 16 gig DDR3
- Graphics Card(s)
- ASUS R9 270
- Screen Resolution
- 1440x900
- Hard Drives
- 1 TB Seagate Barracuda (starting to hate Seagate)
x2 3 TB Toshibas
Windows 8.1 is installed on a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256 GB
- PSU
- OCZ 500 watt
- Case
- A current work in progres as I'll be building the physical case myself. It shall be fantastic.
- Cooling
- Arctic Cooler with 3 heatpipes
- Keyboard
- Logitech K750 wireless solar powered keyboard
- Mouse
- Microsoft Touch Mouse
- Browser
- Internet Explorer 11
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender, but I might go back on KIS 2014