Post 50: Zune 3.0 and VMWare Fusion 2.0

50?! Has it really been that many posts? Wow... I've got a double-post tonight: new versions of VMWare Fusion and Zune launched Monday night and Tuesday morning, respectively!

VMWare Fusion 2.0:

As many of you know from reading my previous posts, I run Mac OS X Leopard (hacked to run on my PC laptop). I need Windows for one thing only: my Zune. I love my Zune 80, to the point that I have 10 GB allocated for my XP virtual machine JUST for Zune Desktop. Anyway, while waiting for Zune 3.0 (or Z3, from here on) to launch Monday night, VMWare updated Fusion to 2.0. What does this new version bring? I've noticed some performance upgrades, and it can mirror your user folders (desktop, music, movies, etc) in the Windows' My Documents folders. It also integrates further with Leopard. For example: I downloaded a WMV file with Safari, and it launched inside XP using Windows Media Player. I can also launch Mac Mail from within Internet Explorer if I click an email link. It's kinda nice. Now, Fusion still isn't anywhere near as fast as native Windows is, but for my use, it's fast enough. If I had more RAM or a faster processor, it'd be a whole lot faster, but Ruri (my laptop) has her limitations.

Zune 3.0
I waited a week in high anticipation for Z3, and I was rewarded justly. The launch wasn't the smoothest thing ever; I was unable to purchase a Zune Pass until Tuesday afternoon due to Zune.net lot linking all of its pages properly. It was no MobileMe though. By Tuesday evening, most of the wrinkles were ironed out. Let's start with the Zune Desktop. What's new? Picks is Zune's answer the Genius in the new iTunes. It basically does the same thing as Genius in regards to finding new music. The Mix view of Now Playing is really cool; it lays out a stack of artists and albums that are like what you're listening to that you can visually click through. Channels are new too. With a Zune Pass, it'll download dynamic playlists and songs on a recurring basis for you. I have electronica, rock, and soundtracks channels set up for me. On to the Zune Player! Biggest new thing? WiFi Marketplace. You can now search, browse, purchase, and download music right from the player through WiFi, much like iPod touch or iPhone. Buy from FM is really cool too. The Zune has a built-in FM radio that can pick up track, album, and artist metadata from supported stations. You can queue up the song you're listening to to be purchased and downloaded when you're in WiFi coverage! I love it! Games are also new, but there are only 2 right now. While fun, they don't really blow me away. Also, support for Audible audiobooks has been added, though you have to download those with the Audible application, not Zune Marketplace. There's a few other little things too like the addition of a clock to the home screen, but nothing else big. Oh! Channels and Friends favorites can be updated over WiFi too! With a Zune Pass, this means I can browse and download unlimited songs over WiFi, not to mention have my Channels update without docking too! I wish podcasts could be, but hopefully they'll toss that into 3.5. It should be noted that Z3 is able to installed on ALL Zunes, even the first gen ones. I think that's huge, and it shows awesome support for early adopters. I know it's a pipe dream, but I really wish they'd roll out a Zune Desktop for Mac. You also still can't add art to video files still. See my last post for my tip on doing that. It's literally the only thing keeping Windows floating around on my laptop.

I also moved all of my media to my external hard drive Monday night, freeing up about 80 GB on my laptop to expand my XP virtual machine and improve overall performance. After the move, I formatted the laptop and reinstalled Leopard with a vanilla (as "unhacked" as possible) install to clear up some compatibility issues I was running into. It was a busy night! lol