@AthlonBoy: Be precise!
1) iPod Touch 8 or 16 GB (=much better GUI than Zune)
2) iPod Classic 80 or 160 GB (=much more storage than Zune)

Of course that MS can match up after several tries and years to the iPod-Classic.
The iPod-Classic is the oldest design of the iPod family. The iPod-touch is the one to match up now!

iPod Touch? That has 8GB of storage on it; shurely that puts it out of the running with 50GB+ players.

mp3 players are becoming commodities.. it's amazing, the ipod was all the rage, but now, why would i upgrade from my nano? for another nano that looks different? at some point it'll just be pointless. Microsoft will sell a 160gig zune, and apple will sell a 160 gig ipod - a small one and a big one ipod touch... i really think that if MSFT can continue to ramp up that there's no reason that apple's dominance doesn't drop off somewhat. that said, i've not done much with the itunes marketplace - if customers are 'locked-in' to that experience, then certainly, the road will be tougher for anyone else looking to win in this space.

wow, very convincing article lolol!

If I had a choice between wireless sync or a very thin mp3 player with a great looking screen (I do watch videos while traveling), I'd go with the latter.

Wireless sync is convenient, but not that important (it's not that hard to put the iPod in it's cradle...and that also allows the user to change settings, etc).

I'll stick with the iPod, at least based on this review.

it may play better, but doesn't have the coolness that the Apple Fanboys(and girls) want.

The Touch is a joke, overpriced rubbish.
While I wouldn't touch a Zune Apple better wake up and start dropping prices or they are going to lose their best revenue generator

Not really true, the touch is aimed at a different market. What with the smaller memory size and different interface. 

It would be nice to see however a 160 gb Zune appearing anywhere but especially in the UK

I particularly like the Zune vs Ipod comparison site which lists feature such as size, weight, pre-loaded viruses!

http://www.zunescene.com/comparison/

I guess "several tries" = 2 tries. The Zune2 is what the iPod classic should be, wireless sharing, radio. Nothing like creating a media player on 10-years-ago technology. I wish all the little teeny boppers out there would buy what is good and not what is "hot", that'd push Apple back into innovation, rather than tweaking a 5 year old product and charging an arm and a leg for a minimum upgrade.

Finally, the Zune might get a bit of footing in the market. It really doesn't look like such a bad product.

I do hope that Microsoft takes on the iPod touch too; they might make a product with a touch screen and WiFi capabilities which doesn't do something utterly stupid like trading 160 GB for 16 GB of space just to shave off a few millimeters of thickness.

And let's hope they kick up the resolution with their next revision too. In all fairness, the iPod also has just 320x240, but still that resolution is totally unacceptable... half SD... ugh. Widescreen SD resolutions would be a good place to stay at until display technologies improve so 720p can be squeezed into a handheld (which might seem over-the-top now, but a few years ago Apple thought that video, period, was a pointless endeavor).

Here's to hoping.

Dear God, take a step back for a moment and realize we've got handheld devices with 80 GB, and that's only half of the max you can squeeze into a player of that size. I still have desktop drives smaller than that...

"...setting it up to charge and sync overnight without ever coming near the PC."

If I was running Windows, I wouldn't want to get near my PC either!

I have the old Zune (30gb Model) and what MS did upgrading the old users to the new Zune OS, and features was awesome. Ive never bought a device then had a company say "hey we are going to get your old model up to spec with the new ones." Spot on MS. The wireless syncing is great, menus respond faster, easy to use. Im no fanboi, as I have plenty of complaints about the original software, its design, and syncing issues. The new software is easier to use, pretty smart layout, and finally pod casts!