Should Microsoft kill the Zune name?

 

Zune Software is one of the reasons I stuck around with Windows Phone for so long. It’s one of the reasons I loved my Zune personal media player so much, dating all the way back to the original. I personally think that while iTunes may be hugely robust and supported, that Zune Software was actually superior. Especially in aesthetics and usage. But, that doesn’t always count for a lot, especially when Apple’s PMPs and iTunes in general are pretty much running everything over.

But, the Zune Software is still one of my favorite ways to download content, or at least it was. In my current situation, I don’t have much usage for it, nor do I even have it downloaded. I still miss it, though.

But it would seem that Microsoft is doing just about everything they can to make sure that Zune is wiped clean from everyone’s mind. They seem to want the slate free of any remnants of the Zune name, and it honestly doesn’t make any sense to me. What’s even more strange, is that I see people on Twitter sometimes comment on it, and they seem perfectly okay with it. Worse, they seem to want it to happen.

Which doesn’t make any sense to me. I mean, if you compare Zune Software to iTunes, you just have to be more attracted to the Zune option, because it’s nicer to look at. Navigation is clean and fluent, even if that Back arrow at the top-left may get used a bit too much. Overall, Zune Software is nicer than iTunes, at least in my personal opinion, and it’s one reason why it doesn’t make sense to me why everyone seems to want it gone.

It’s great that Microsoft wants to open up the Web portal for the Marketplace on Windows Phone, but only because options are great. There shouldn’t be one or the other. I would imagine that people would want to be able to use their Zune Software, and if they really had to, their Web browser to access the Marketplace. Why are we pushing for only one option? You don’t see Apple doing that, do you?

It’s fantastic news that Microsoft is working diligently on making the Marketplace a better place for developers to create their apps, and for the end user to find their next best application. But, I’m just a bit confused on why you’d want to get rid of one way that people use to download apps onto their phones.

Unless, of course, the Zune Software isn’t actually doing anything to help promote applications for Windows Phone, and no one is actually downloading apps via that outlet.

Then that would make sense. I know that I, personally, used Zune Software to browse through applications, and I even queued up some downloads, too. I didn’t use it in that way probably as much as I could, but then again, I don’t use iTunes to go find new apps, either. It’s an option I wouldn’t get rid of, though.

I don’t think Zune Software is something that Microsoft should be aiming to get rid of. Furthermore, I don’t think the Zune name is something that should be deleted from the history books. I loved Zune, and I love that it is still around in the software end, because there’s nothing new from the hardware side coming down the pipe. It should live on, because Zune was great.

And, the Software is just really nice.

Do you use Zune Software? Did you stop using it for some reason? Do you think Microsoft should be getting rid of the Zune name altogether? Let me know what you think in the comments below.s

 

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