A few days back I posted about Microsoft preparing to roll out a software update for the zune before Christmas. Guess what, as per Cesar from zuneinsider they issued a 22 MB update today.

The update does fix a lot of known bugs, improves performance and the zune software installation process. And finally this update will also make zune compatible with vista.

Right now you can only install it via auto-update as it is not yet available for download at zune.net. I’ll post the link once they make it available.

I know I am a little late in posting this; but finally the Zune software is available for download. Something we have been waiting for while. As you know you needed the software to access the zune marketplace.

Now you can rip and burn CDs, create your own playlists, import music, videos or pictures from windows media player or iTunes.

But remember you need Windows XP with SP2 or service pack 2 or Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 2 for the software to work and unfortunately it is not compatible with Vista right now. But will be when the consumer edition is publicly available in January and will also include 64bit vista support.

As per Microsoft, you will get a 14-day; free trial subscription to Zune Marketplace when you buy Zune. During the trial period you can download songs and listen to them as long as you hold the Zune Pass subscription.

You can still purchase songs or albums individually, too. What else you don’t even need a credit card to sign up. After the trial period ends you can sign up or cancel.

You can either sign up for a monthly subscription of $14.99 a month or a Three month period for $44.97. The pass with automatically renew at the end of the period.

Alright, I was looking around to see if I can get what preloaded content zune offers. Ah! What better source than Microsoft.

It’s nice to see they got something for everyone, with variety of songs and music videos from hot, new artists as well as some fun films and images. Enough said, see the list below.

Audio Tracks:

• Band of Horses, “Wicked Gil” (Sub Pop Records)
• Bitter:Sweet, “The Mating Game” (Quango Music Group)
• CSS, “Alala (Microsoft edit)” (Sub Pop Records)
• Darkel, “At The End of The Sky (edit)” (Astralwerks)
• Every Move a Picture, “Signs of Life” (V2)

The goal of the Microsoft Zune Marketplace, which is integrated into the Zune software, is to provide users with access to millions of songs.Microsoft has stated that they will provide several popular formats of songs, all of which can be downloaded directly into the Microsoft Zune player.

At launch marketplace is anticipated to have more than 2 million songs from major record labels like EMI music, Astralwerks, Virgin records and more. Users can use Microsoft Points to purchase songs from the Zune Marketplace, which means that new music can be instantly obtained without the use of a credit card.