When you post comments like these it would really help if you could include the version numbers of the software/firmware that we will upgrade to. That way we can see whether auto-update has taken care of it or whether we need to do a manual update.

Other than that - thanks for the ifo.

-Jamie

Does this update include firmware 1.2?

This is great news Cesar; I hear the update speeds the loading time of images, music and video. I can’t wait to install it.

Best wishes,

Kimmy

Harry

No, I guess this update is different from the firmware update v1.2.

no update there yet, right? or am i looking in the wrong place...

I tried to update the software and it says no update is available.  Is it already out or will it be later today?

is firmware update 1.2 supposed to take 10+ minutes?

So, this is awesome.  But it suddenly makes me wonder about migration.  Is there a way to migrate not only my songs, but my library's metadata to a clean install of Zune on a clean install of Vista?  I think I've got some digging to do tonight.  =]

Bix, I'd like to know the answer to that too. let me know if and when you find out

oh oh cesar. It looks like some people are having their firmware update frozen. Might wanna tell the Zune team.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/18/installing-zune-firmware-v1-2-also-sucked/

thank god my zune has been sitting in a drawer for a month waiting for this.  i have vista rc1 - will it work with that?

Will this also add support for Vista x64 or just x86?

eh, can somebody please post a link to the exact page where i can download software update, i cant find it, just a link to download the full programme which i already have.

ray..its just reinstalls the new software over your existing copy.  It supposed to be available after 10AM PST.

A Microsoft blog claims that a Zune patch that will make the player compatible with Windows is due out today.

Our friend Cesar Menendez from the Zune Insider has posted that the Zune Team will be releasing updated

Today, Microsoft released an update to the Zune PC software that makes it compatible with Vista plus they also released firmware update 1.2 which seems to have no function changes but generally improves performance. Everyone seems to be on the edge o..

Still, no Vista love for the technet subscribers....Still has the OS not supported page....sigh....My guess is Vista ultimate is not supported?

robo, i'm checking on that, stay tuned

Thanks Cesar, 6.0.6000 build 6000 if that's any help.  

Zunefan - no only Vista RTM is supported, not the RCs.

robo74 - it's a problem with a cached webpage; being worked on right now. Your SKU will be supported.

It looks like today is the day I get to install the Zune software on my Windows Vista machine at home.

It looks like today is the day I get to install the Zune software on my Windows Vista machine at home.

I have Vista ultimate via MSDN subscription, but I still can't download the update off of the Zune site. I called support, and the rep didn't even know there was an update...

Vista Ultimate not supported? Say it ain't so Cesar, say it ain't so!!!!

the update runs on all versions of Vista.

The download link is not working for me.

I have Vista Ultimate RTM via MSDN.

The URL erroneosly redirects me to:

http://www.zune.net/en-US/meetzune/software/OS_not_supported.htm

Please advise.

Michael, I'm getting the same thing. I see the screen that says your OS isn't supported but it lists Vista as being supported on that page.

I'm running Vista Ultimate as well.

The OS not supported error is a temporary problem with a cached webpage - it's being worked on.

Someone over at engadget just gave out a direct link.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/19/zune-software-v1-2-today-adds-vista-compatibility/

I downloaded it and it seems fine.

Thanks Zbp

Sorry, the direct link is: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/8/5/58555b76-c739-442a-91ed-f9c650df70bc/ZuneSetup.exe

Does it fix the album covers! It really bugs me that I want cry.

Thanks all, had to run off for a bit and actually work.  Going to clean out the cache on ie7 and try again and use the direct download.

I just installed the update and everything is just fine. All is working well.Hopefully you guys will post if the update solves the bugs or any other issues which you guys were having.

Loaded and running.  Thanks again all.

The Zune team has finally released a version of the software and marketplace that is officially compatible

Does anyone know of a way to stop the auto-converting?.I like some of my mp3's at better than 192kbps as well as the rendering of my own video.

thanx

If you were running Vista and did not use Cesar's direct download link, there is a second link on zune.net under technical specifications on the software homepage.  Great work in responding so fast.

From the It's-About-Time Dept.: This update to the Zune software now lets Microsoft's MP3 player talk to its latest operating system, Windows Vista. The Zune software page, with system requirements, is here, and sure enough, Vista's now mentioned as a..

To Jamie T: After the update your device firmware should be 1.2 (434), and the software should be at 1.2.5511.0

Zune does no "auto-conversion" of audio for any Zune player supported format... unless you specifically set it to convert everything to specific bitrate to save space.

MP3, AAC, WMA, WMA Pro, etc. all transfer without modification.  WMA Lossless transcodes currently, however.

Zune Compatible with Vista: Today Today Microsoft issued a 22 MB update to make Zune compatible...

Gotit working on Vista without a hitch.  Performance is noticably better too.  All-in-all, good work.

I'm placing my bets that there be at least one major Zune related CES announcement and one more Zune update just as Vista is released to the public.  What do you think?

Could we get a response to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZXiLY4bo80 please?

updated! but took about 10 min to update the player. took me about three tries also. bleeh, first time, zune software froze, second time, just didn't update. third times a charm. oh well, first "big" update so nothing to really complain about it. still a little frustrating though. haven't really noticed anything new though. oh well, still love my zune ;)

RE: Auto Convert

When auto sync. starts, the higher sampled songs automaticaly "convert". you can watch it happen. I have been all over the settings and I do not see a way to stop it? I know I'm probably overlooking something, Please explain.

Also, I see without a reg edit, you cannot drag and drop. The zune software will convert video files IE:IPOD But those are normally 320x240 wich i want to render myself to 640x480 to take advantage of zune's better display. Fine. How do I backup or save the "auto rendered" movies for later use after a system reset or to swap around? It looks like burning to cd through zune software is the only choice?

Ken

None of my MP3, WMA, or WMA Pro files transode  when I sync to the Zune.  I have MP3 files at 320 Kbps (the highest bitrate) and VBR rates averaging 200kbps... none transcode and all copy directly to the Zune quickly.  Time to call support?  That's a strange one.  It shouldn't transcode any audio other than WMA Lossless and (maybe) WMA Voice.  Maybe time to ask support?

The Zune screen is 320 x 240.  So, any higher resolution does not help the Zune itself.  (It could only help TV output, but we don't know if it supports higher than 320 x 240 currently... not sure what the technical limitation is.)

one of the things I would like to see Microsoft do better than Apple is provide detailed change logs for software updates of this type.

Jason, I can check into it, but it's honestly not likely. As a policy, I think MS doesn't disclose details around security updates (for obvious reasons). Sure this update was more than just security (performance, Vista, etc), but still. . .

ok, here goes: I uninstalled then re-installed zune software now its NOT re-encoding EXCELLENT.

The new update today did take three attempts as stated above (Im running xp pro)1st attempt to update firmware on device failed, trying a second.

Can you tell more in detail the best format/frame rate/ the zune can handle?

I prefer to render my own video with third party software.....

I updated my machine this evening and upgraded the Zune firmware as well. All is well so far, except the Zune tells me that I can either be a "guest" or delete everything from my Zune and start over.

Not that I don't have everything backed up, but I'm going to see if I can get it to sync without deleting everything from the device first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZXiLY4bo80

Not feeling any love here. My Zune also reset, and claimed it was foreign. It's now erasing my (full) Zune and resyncing everything, including my movies which took a day to convert originally. Ugh.

You made progress on the album art, but you're only half way there.  If I manually set the album art for something, say a local band that it wouldn't find art for on its own, the new version now saves it at 240x240 instead of 200x200, which is good.  There was no reason to save it at less than the screen resolution.  However, the software still compresses the bejeesus out of it so that I still see jpg artifacts on the screen.  Is there any reason why the files have to be 8-14k?  Can't they be 30-40k so they're razor sharp?  It's a 30GB player, we can spare an extra 20-30k for each album.

To: kenneth rich

You probably set your Zune software to transcode instead of letting it pick when to do it.  When plugged in, Options... Devices... {Your Zune} --> Properties.

No need to re-install to "fix" that.

To: Gg...

If you use the cool drag and drop add art feature, it'll rescale/compress for you before embedding and writing the hidden Folder.jpg.

Try embedding a less compressed (or bigger) image in the content itself directly.  That doesn't touch the image.  Right button... Edit Track Info... Pictures.  (Or use a tag editor... at least with MP3... be careful with WMA, since many bad editors blow away WMA tags accidentally.)

Zune will always rescale/recompress the picture on sync, but I think it'll use the "better" image inside the file as a source before it uses the lower resolution or more highly compressed image.  You'll still see some artifacts, but hopefully less.

PLEASE ANSWER:

Guys, does this update support Vista RC1? If it does, I'm going to buy one for Xmas. If not, I'll have to wait until Q1.

Please let me know.

Thanks!

Darren Johnson

darrenjohnson@gmail.com

I have windows vista ultimate in spanish, i can't download the update (the 22mb size,i only download a 5.3 mb size), software still saying "no zune software update found", i can't install the software from cd, so i can't use the zune. Can help me?, thanks.  

I ended up not losing all my content on my Zune. I couldn't tell you exactly what I did, cause I don't know, but I started off as Guest.

Then I chose to sync the device, but it asked me to name the Device first, so I gave it the same name as I originally setup and all seems well. It's syncing the files I hadn't synced from my other machine, leaving the ones that are already on the device.

Yeah, Gg, Album Art default auto-scaling is now 240 x 240 vs. 200 x 200 previously.  Odd, since all the "automatic" online downloadable art is 200 x 200... and 200 x 200 is still used by WMP 11.

But you are right... the aggressive compression  looks bad.  It seems they try to keep the image smaller than 10K at all costs, just like when it was 200 x 200.  TONS of artifacts.  They need to jack it up.  How about keeping it under 32K, Microsoft?

So, the only way to get better art on the Zune is to still embed directly without the cool "Paste Album Art" feature.  LAME.

wo0t!

I did notice that using Edit Track Info instead of drag and drop makes the compression suck a little less, but it's still bad.  Even if you feed it your own 240x240 jpg it will still recompress it anyway.

For anyone who's going to bother to do it this way, you only need to edit the track info on the first track and it will apply to the entire album.

When I downloaded the Zune software before getting an actual Zune, I noticed it uses the first track's art as the album art, but will actually show each individual track's art while it's playing.  I thought this was cool, I could make little slideshows for my favorite albums as long as the first one was the album art, like pictures from a concert or one of their videos or something.  Alas, the Zune player doesn't work like the software, it uses the album's art no matter what.  I'm not expecting to see this happen, but I'm putting it out there as a wishlist item anyway.  Maybe I'll be surprised one day.  It would be a great use of the screen, though you'd probably have to make it easier to do in the software itself if you wanted to push it as a feature.

In celebration of the Zune now working on Windows Vista I put together a little video last night. I actually

In celebration of the Zune now working on Windows Vista I put together a little video last night. I actually

RE: RON

thanx, your right.

Can you shed some light on the best frame rate/format for zune video? I like avs video tools to render. If you let zune software to render it doesn't seem to put the video file anywhere but on the zune (no backup) I have many movies rendered and when space is at a premium,I want to be able to swap around movies on my player.It looks like the only way is to burn a cd using zune software?

thanx for any info..

ken

If zune can play h264 video, then how come it re-renders all my ipod videos during the sync process? Automatic or max quility settings, under properties, do nothing to stop the process.

ken - it auto-transcodes h264 content to fit onto zune.

Now that there is some good discussion on album art, there is another thing I don't like about it.

If you have an album where you want to have some of the songs assigned to one genre and the other songs assigned to another genre, the songs appear on the Zune as individual *albums* when browsing by genre.

For example, Cake's "Fashion Nugget."  I like cover songs a lot, so I created a genre called "Covers."  Since Cake covers "I Will Survive" I have that song assigned to Covers and the rest of the songs assigned to Alternative Rock.  So if I am browsing by the genre "Covers" on the Zune, "I Will Survive" is listed at the end of the list of albums as it's own album and the small album art picture doesn't show up.

Does anyone know a way to have multiple genres for one album and have it still display correctly on the Zune?

The Zune Software supports mutiple artist names, genres, composers, etc. per track... as does WMP 11.  In the UI, use a semicolon to separate them.

However, the Zune itself does not.  It only uses the first entered Artist & Genre per track.  (And Album Artist, too, thankfully.)

The Zune itself should be on parity with the PC software.  They should add multiple artists, genres and the ability to browse via "Album Artists" only, since now it lists every artist (both Contributing and Album Artist.)

Anyway, why not build a Playlist for your "Covers"?  That's probably the easiest.

thanx to killerg:

found re-rendered zune videos for archiving:

Go to C:\documents and settings\<your name>\Local settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Zune\Transcoded files(?).  They are somewhere in there as .tmp files.  Just drag them out and rename them.  

So the new software does not work on Vista RC-1?  I have tried the direct link and I still get OS not supported

What about users that are developers that use Windows 2003 Server? There are some of us that use a server and have a Zune. When will we have support for this?

Vista isn't beta anymore... so only the released product will be supported.  Sorry.

John, using 2003 Server as your main desktop is pretty odd.  Guess it's time to test a virtual machine out.  I can't see a time when they'll support Zune on a secured server OS.  This is a mainstream product.

I've installed the update on RTM Vista. When I launch Zune, during the "Scanning for device" phase a dialog box pops up within a couple of seconds stating "Zune has stopped working" and the only option is to "Close program".

the update 1.2 is not good.  as i was playing my zune, the thing shut off by itself.  uh....gggggggggggg

i don't see any improvement.  i think the zune should have calendar or contact on the next update. or wifi finder?  hahahaa.. heck, i don't use any of those feature.. but just a thought for other zune users.

It doesn't work better on French vista RTM version ...

Blocked on the "No updates found" while install.

Damned ...

i was psyched about this update - i am running vista rtm and i could move my zune to that machine. bummed when i found that unlike my ipod i could not move drm music from the zune the pc and i would need to download it again from the zune site and burn 1 of 4 possible downloads to sync.

even more bummed when i found that upgrading my xpsp2 machine caused zune to fail the next time i tried to start it - endless cycle of "zune needs to be re-installed" even after re-installing.  called support and they basically told me to repave the xp machine.

pretty bad experience compared with ipod/itunes...

I downloaded the latest Zune software and was able to install it on my PC running RC1.  The problem that I am having is that when I "try" to launch Zune, I got an error message stating the the wmv version is .5600 instead of .5726 or something like that.

Anyone else have the same problem?  I thought the new update was compatible with the Vista RC1 and RC2.  

I really want to get a Zune with all the Best Buy gift cards I received for Xmas.  Hopefully someone has a fix or I may have to get an IPod.

When will the zune marketplace start to sell tv shows and movies? Any Ideas?

Why did Microsoft not make the zune player compatible will all versions of windows including media center 2002 and 2004?

boohoo! this update only supports RTM, none of the RCs. and the update on WU changes a bunch of DLLs that prevent the 1.0 from running.

I have had this Zune for 2 weeks and it's such a bother to upload, fix the album artwork, transcode videos, wait 20 minutes to synch each time....anyone want to buy mine? It's time for an Ipod.

I am a photographer and purchased the ZUNE for the awesome radio and kick ass screen ( bigger than ipods ) I own a MAC G5 that runs virtual pc. For those that dont know it allows me to run Windows XP on my MAC , The software installed fine but it wont sync my Zune. I guess the driver is acting funny, any help is greatly appreciated.

I found more information at http://www.zuneinfo.com

On Tuesday the 19th of December, our Zune team issued a 22 MB update to make Zune compatible with Windows

Any word on Mac compatibility?

How come everytime i try to upload a movie to my zune it has to convert and it takes hours for that to happen is there anyway to bypass this problem?

Can anyone tell me why the info i changed (albums song info etc) is not changing when i sync to my zune.  i change on computer but its not changing on my zune.  please help :)

any word on x64 Vista support?  I can't get to the EULA page on my x64 Vista RTM box... thx

fixed it...was a WSUS issue as I couldn't get the update package

hmmm, still can´t install this upgrade on my new PC, are there any fixed versions of these upgrade?

Can any one tell me if microsoft will start puttig their webcasts (with video) up for download to the ZUNE I have one really need to be able to listen and watch the webcasts on the ZUNE

How do I put videos in different categories? It put the videos all in one spot.

I just got a zune and when i change the information on my computer it doesnt change on my zune wtf mate whats going on can someone help please

Isn't the update size suppose to be 22MB? how come under "having problem downloading from Zune.net" the file size is only 5mb???

Anyone care to explain? I thought I'd download the FULL file size, not the partial so I can connect to the internet at home...

What is up with that...

I bought a Zune and was very excited about it. I was shocked to see that it is not compatible with Vista. There is supposed to be a patch out there, but doesn't work either. At least, not with the versions of Vista that are available. I called their "Help" and they told me that there is nothing I can do about it only wait until Vista is out and after I buy it, to call again and they would guide me through the troubleshooting process. I think they are wrong. There is something better to do, and that is, return the Zune to the store and get something else. What a pain and waste of my time.