Asa Zune and Windows Media Center owner I have been eagerly awaiting the new Zune software with its promise of improvedRecorded TV and podcast support. As the upgrade is available on Zune.net todayI downloaded it and kicked the install off.

Afterabout 10 minutes the software was installed and it was up and running, the newUI is a vast improvement over the old version. It looks like a completerewrite, which is good as the v1 software was basically a customized version of Windows Media Player.

The rebirth of Zune

OnceI connected my Zune to the PC, the software asked me to update the firmware to2.2, which took about 5 minutes. The device then rebooted a couple of times - Ididn't have to touch the Zune at all.

One nice touch is the way it handles connectingyour Zune to a second PC. In the v1 software, it asked you every time if youwanted to connect as a 'guest'. In the new version, you can tell the softwareto always connect it this way. I use my Zune on my UMPC, as well as my MediaCenter PC, and it was a pain to keep telling the original software to grant it guest status.

Theuser interface on the Zune device has also been improved; it's clearer and seemsfaster. The music experience seems the same, except that when browsing an Artist's tracks youcan see their albums on a carousel at the top of the device. Pictures now giveyou a count on the pictures in a folder. I'm sure I will find other minor changes as I continue using it.

New Podcast support

Podcastsupport is one feature that I was really looking forward too. With the v1software I had been struggling to find an elegant way of downloading andsyncing podcasts to the Zune.

I ended up using Doppler to download the shows, then a monitoredfolder to do the syncing. I found most of the time I ended up syncing itmyself. The other problem was ctually finding the shows on the Zune once they had downloaded. Some podcasters don't tag their shows up as Podcasts, so they end up in with therest of my music.