Microsoft Solves Zune Bug

By Christian Coley
11:37, January 3rd 2009

A software bug unprepared for the 2008 leap year has been fixed by Microsoft. The worldwide freezing of the 30GB Zune media player was solved by the company which produced it . On New Year's Eve, reports began flooding across the Internet that Microsoft's Zune media player was experiencing a worldwide meltdown, basically leaving Zune owners without response.

The problem was caused by a software that did not account for the extra day in the 2008 leap year and it affected only the 30GB Zune models released in mid-November of 2006. Microsoft was quick to respond, as it posted an entry on the Zune FAQ Web page asking users to disconnect their Zune from USB and AX power sources, allow the battery to drain, wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 and then reconnect the media player.

However, some owners still couldn't use their Zune. According to some reports on various Zune forums, the devices began freezing after the startup status bar reached 100 percent. This time, a message from Microsoft addressing the issue was slow in coming, prompting a slew of angry messages on forums across the Web.

Zune was launched in November 2006 and it has failed to find a foothold in the market, as Apple's rival music player, the iPod, has continued to lead the MP3 player market. As of May 2008, about 2 million Zune players had been sold. However, in the same period, sales of Apple's iPod reached 76 million. It remains to be seen if Microsoft will have the power to fight and raise Zune's sales.