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As predicted by many iPod zealots, the much heralded launch of Microsoft's Zune music player has been a flop - they're moving about as fast as an elephant with arthritis. The few favorable reviews are punctuated with some real hissers that quite often sound angry. Why do so many reviewers and consumers seem to be angry with Microsoft over Zune?

The main reason I believe is that when Microsoft announced that it was going into the music player business, most of those who were not totally committed iPod freaks were happy. At last Apple was going to have some real competition - or so they thought. What they got instead was a pale imitation of the real deal with a few doo-dahs added on.

From most accounts, the Zune player itself is not too bad, although a bit bigger and bulkier than the equivalent Video iPod. Some people say they even prefer the earthier color range of black, white and brown, plus the screen is bigger and the case is scratch resistant. So why aren't Zune players walking off the shelves of stores all over the US?

As we know, the aesthetics of the player are but one component of the equation of the total portable music player experience. There is also the software, the music store, compatibility and usability. It is these latter things that are fuelling the annoyance of potential Zune users.

The first time I tried to download the Zune software, it wouldn't let me even though my system met the Zune software standards - Win XP SP2, a processor that runs at least at 1.5GHz, memory of at least....hang on what is this nonsense anyway!? I got none of this minimum hardware requirements rubbish when I installed iTunes 7, which installed without hitch in exactly five minutes.

In fact, I can imagine all those Windows 2000 and Win XP SP1 users who don't quite have the grunt necessary to install XP SP2 feeling quite a bit miffed by the minimum hardware demand to run the Zune software.

Anyway, as I said, I have an up to date box but the Zune software refused to install. Guess why? Because I tried to download it using Firefox, my browser of choice. Luckily for me an iTWire reader had the same problem. So Microsoft wants to alienate about 13% of browser users - actually about 40% in Germany and more than 20% in Australia - who use Firefox and force them to use IE 7 just so they can download the Zune software.