First thing this morning, I upgraded my Zune 1 software to Zune 2. I made sure the Zune 30GB was unplugged from USB before proceeding.

The process was smooth and error-free on Windows Vista. Very different installation experience than what happened with Zune 1 software on Vista. I started by going inside the Zune 1 software and checking for updates. It found the update. I started the installation process and these are the step-by-step screenshots:

Accepting the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA). A missed opportunity to provide a common-sense EULA. One of these days companies will provide a quick summary version of an EULA with a link to the detailed legal speak. Most people don’t read EULA in their current form.

I’m still waiting to get into the social aspects of Zune. I mostly used the first Zune to listen to music, not be social. Perhaps with version 2, there will be more social opportunities.

Two of the new things I’m looking forward to include built-in podcasting support and non-DRM MP3 files. The former is a big improvement, previously you needed separate software to have podcasting included. The latter isn’t very clear. I think the albums that are in MP3 format show up with “mp3″ in small text on the album covers, however, I didn’t see any clear way to search for only MP3 albums. I found very few albums with the MP3 text. Disappointing if these aren’t broken out into separate section like iTunes does.

Magic text: successfully installed. Oh yeah. I was given the following two choices at the next screen: go right to my collection or customize settings first. I chose the second one.

I was fairly certain the settings were fine, but wanted to review what Zune 2 was using. The categories broken out are for music, video, pictures and podcasts. Click remove or add. Simple UI. Effective.

Zune is setup to associate MP3 and MP4 files, but not Windows Media files.

Checked by default to enter the customer experience improvement program.

Next the new display interface of your existing music. Gone are the brown frames, although it is templated and can be changed. To change go to SETTINGS->DISPLAY. Settings is located at the top.

The new background is called Phyta which is a darker red with an artistic background. Other options include: Diaphanous (lighter red), Everglade (off green), Meridian (silver), Organica (black and white) and Slate (white to black).

The album covers you have will show up, the others won’t (see above and below).

Zune 2 firmware upgrade
After the roughly 10 minutes to upgrade to the Zune 2 software, I plugged in my Zune 30GB. It jumped into action, installing the driver and then offering the following screens.

I clicked the button and waited. After a couple minutes — no errors — the process was complete.

On the Zune 30GB the words “connected” are smaller. Minor gripe: what’s up with that? My eyesight sucks, make the font larger, not smaller.

Zune podcast area
Podcasters and podcast fans will be happy to see there is an entire section dedicated to podcasts. What isn’t so clear are the podcast RSS feed URLs or the ability to import OPML files with collections of podcasts you’re already subscribed to (tweeted by kosso), making this a one podcast at a time process. Hopefully the Zune team adds OPML support.

Entering a single Podcast RSS feed is straightforward. If you produce a podcast and aren’t listed in the Zune directory (only 1,000 or so are) you can submit your podcast RSS feed.

You might also want to add 1-click podcasting subscription inside Zune to your website/blog. At the top of the Hmmcast category, I’ve added one of these 1-click subscription buttons or you can click this button to subscribe:

Overall, I’m impressed with how smooth the Vista installation process went but this is expected behavior, not a feature. Based on my past Vista experience, I expected problems which is a stain that Zune needs to wipe clean for Vista owners. I didn’t have any problems installing the original Zune software on Windows XP, but some others did. Kludgy software was one of the major complaints the first time around.

I’m disappointed that the new Zune marketplace doesn’t do a better job of separating out the MP3 from the DRM-infested tracks. Please fix this, because it is easier to shop for MP3 at iTunes Plus, AmazonMP3 and Wal-mart MP3.

The podcasting support is good to see, but admittedly it should have been included the first time around. On the Zune 30GB player side, the interface doesn’t seem that different, except for the big text options at the starting menu: music, videos, pictures, radio and podcasts. Here’s what it looks like:

After subscribing to the Hmmcast in the Zune software it didn’t automatically sync to the Zune 30GB, I needed to start the sync. Why when the device is plugged in already doesn’t it do this automatically? Maybe there is a setting for this somewhere? Compare this to my Pocket PC which is synced via USB. I use the program eWallet and whenever I add a new site user/pass it syncs with my Pocket PC without a manual sync. Might just be a settings thing here for the Zune, but I’d like it to work the same way.

Zune 2 is definitely more than an incremental improvement and the fact that they made the firmware and new marketplace backwards compatible is a great thing, thank you Microsoft. Should leave some of the Zune haters of v1 less to complain about. As for buying a Zune 2 player? Haven’t done that yet, but probably will be doing so as our youngest son needs a player. Sounds like a good Christmas present. Also, as we’ve grown our music collection past 30GB since I’ve been ripping our CDs into MP3, the need is there.

Related Posts

• How to add Zune 1-click podcasting subscription to your site
• Zune beats out Wii as CNET users #1 most wanted product
• Halo 3 Zune from Gamestop
• Limited offer: Woot offers $99.99+$5 shipping factory refurbished Zune 1.0 players
• Microsoft Zune unboxed black
• Flashing the public, Zune version 2