- Compatibility issues. Zune will not work even with the vast majority of Microsoft's own operating systems -- forget about Mac, Linux, Unix or any other operating system. At the moment, Zune works only with Windows XP. Microsoft promises full support of Vista by January.

- Zune doesn't support PlaysForSure, Microsoft's own certification standard for music files, and it is incompatible with common media formats such as DivX, OGG, protected WMV and WMA-DRM9. It plays movies, but you can't buy them from the Zune Marketplace yet. And Zune isn't ready for podcasting. You can't, for example, use Marketplace to subscribe to podcasts via RSS and have them automatically show up and sync. Marketplace at deadline had no podcasting section.

- Usability issues.The Zune software installation process needs a lot of work. Like Xbox Live and many other Microsoft consumer media products, the out-of-box experience is ruined by endless screens demanding personal information and Windows Live ID membership. And the whole Microsoft Points thing represents more needless harassment. Why can't I buy a music player without being dragged into a Windows Live membership and forced to use Microsoft's weird Monopoly money?

- Software installation is problematic for some. Others report crashes of the Marketplace application.

- Some features are too hard to find and not well designed. While playing music, for example, it's too hard to get to the equalizer to adjust sound quality.