The Zune Feature Request & Suggestion Thread

Is there (or are there plans for) DirectShow and MediaFoundation codec support?

There are multiple Microsoft video players, which I would like to consolidate into one:- Windows Media Player supports DLNA and 3rd party codecs, but is not a good 10foot display and won't sync with my windows phone.

• Zune has a very nice 10foot display but wont play many of my video files and doesn't seem to support DLNA.
• Media Center supports 3rd party codecs and DLNA, but won't sync with my windows phone.

It'd be nice if Zune would use the Media Foundation and DirectShow codecs for playing video, and for transcoding video to put on the Windows Phone. Lacking this support, it is next to useless because I can't play most of my videos on it and I can't put most of my videos on my phone.

I'm afraid Microsoft has a long and sorry history of different product groups not communicating with each other and either reinventing the wheel or failing to fill gaps in a unified manner. As you say, Microsoft has multiple media products, none of which really delivers on its own. For example:

• The "Play to" feature for DLNA devices. Windows Media Player 12 has it, the Zune PC player and Windows Media Center do not,
• Podcast support. The Zune PC player has it, Windows Media Player 12 and Windows Media Center do not.

It's all very frustrating, and has been going on for a very long time.

Yes, it's very frustrating! Microsoft clearly has the talent and resources to make all this perfect, but they're happy with a half-hearted effort.

In case you're not aware, you can actually get some 'play to' functionality for Media Center. If you have Windows Media Player open in the background and Media Center open, you can actually play to that PC and the media will playback through Media Center.

I am baffled at how slow Microsoft is at achieving this. All the pieces are there, and it doesn't seem like a huge task to get everything lined up better. It's as if there are totally separate companies making each of these products and they don't communicate at all. Apple seem capable of sorting this stuff out quite quickly, yet Microsoft has done very little in the last 5 years to get their various media products working together. This is a multi-billion dollar company, yet they can't get a bit of interoperability between their media applications?

I'm afraid Microsoft has a long and sorry history of different product groups not communicating with each other and either reinventing the wheel or failing to fill gaps in a unified manner. As you say, Microsoft has multiple media products, none of which really delivers on its own. For example:

• The "Play to" feature for DLNA devices. Windows Media Player 12 has it, the Zune PC player and Windows Media Center do not,
• Podcast support. The Zune PC player has it, Windows Media Player 12 and Windows Media Center do not.

It's all very frustrating, and has been going on for a very long time.

Are there any plans for future updates that will allow Zune owners to watch you tube videos, etc. via the wifi browser? i think that it would be a BIG mistake for microsoft not to address this. It is about the only complaint i have about mine. That and the fact that there is no free conversion software available to purchasers of the Zune mp3/4 player. You'd think microsoft wuold be more on top of issues like these. they may seem like small potatoes, but add them up and you get a great big bag of chips. and who doesn't like potatoe chips. thank you for your valuable time.                                   sincerely, coolnegative

Please consider trying to make available music for purchase and Zune Pass availability in the United States from the following labels:

Warp

Thrill Jockey

Lo

Touch & Go

R&S

Thirsty Ear

Ostgut

Numbers

Tri Angle

Aus

Hemlock

Also, I've noticed that while there is older content from the Editions Mego label in the Marketplace, none of the new releases from the last year or so are available. Ditto for any Ninja Tune releases since the ones associated with their 20th anniversary a couple of months ago. Please bring them back in, too.

Thanks for listening!