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MR. Bell: The Zune HD is one of the
year's coolest gadgets and one of the best
alternatives to the iPod we've seen. But with
so many people invested in their iTunes media
collections, switching from an iPod to a Zune
seem like a daunting task. So here's a few
tips to make things run smoothly. First let's
talk about your music collection. When you
download and install the Zune software from
zune.net, the installer will automatically seek
out all the music files stored on your PC's My
Music folder. In the majority of cases this is
where your iTunes music collection is stored so
any compatible aac and mp3 files should get
sucked right in. Now, if you still have some
protected aac files you purchased through
iTunes, you'll have to upgrade them to a drm
free version in order for the Zune software to
play them. To see what songs might be affected
launch the iTunes store and click on the iTunes
plus link in the top right. If you have songs
to upgrade, iTunes will list them here and give
you a chance to buy the unrestricted versions.
Of course, if you don't feel like giving Apple
any more cash you also have the pain-staking
option of burning songs to CD and then ripping
them back into your computer using the Zune
software. If your iTunes collection is stored
somewhere other than your My Music folder or
even on an external drive, you can add the
location to the Zune software by diving into
the software settings then select collection.
Click the add folder button next to music and
locate your music folder. The same trick also
works for videos, pictures, and podcasts.
Okay. So one of the big stumbling blocks for
the iTunes to Zune switch is the play list
dilemma. ITunes doesn't make it easy to export
them and Zune doesn't go out of their way to
rescue them. So the best solution I've found
is a light little free application you can
download from
code.msdn.microsoft.com/itunestozune. You open
it up, give the location of your iTunes library
file and your Zune music folder, and all your
play lists should show up with an option to
convert them to Zune. If you're big into the
iTunes smart play list feature, Zune has a
similar feature called auto play list where you
can automatically generate dynamic play lists
based around certain criteria. Then there's
podcasts. There's a good chance that Zune
already pulled in your podcasts when it loaded
the music to your iTunes folder but don't take
that to mean you're subscribed. Look in the
podcast section of your music library and if
your podcasts show up take the extra step of
selecting them and hitting the subscribe
button. If your podcasts don't show up or you
want to subscribe to more podcasts, you can
search for them in the podcast directory of the
Zune Marketplace. Now for the bad news. Those
movies, TV shows, and audiobooks you purchased
through iTunes, those aren't coming with you.
Blame Apple or Hollywood or the Writers Guild
but there's nothing you can do about it.
Fortunately this is usually the kind of content
you'll use once and never revisit, but it still
stings that you have to leave it behind. That
said if you'll be getting your audiobooks
through a service like Audible, you can load
those on to the Zune HD by using Audible's own
standalone software which you can grab from
audible.com. So there you go. Some tips for
making the switch from iPod to Zune. For
cnet.com, I'm Donald Bell.
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