Microsoft have a long history of playing catch-up.  They don’t innovate, they simply “borrow” ideas from other companies, add a billion free features and establish a beach-head in the market.  The fact that ver 1.0, ver 2.0 and invariable 3.0 of their product suck, is normally lost on Joe Public.  This can be send for Windows, Word, IE and Xbox - although Xbox 360 seems to be doing a pretty kick-ass job of stomping Sony and Nintendo.  Anyway, I digress.  The word on the street is that J. Allard, the shiny dome-head in charge of Xbox (along with Robbie Bach) is on a mission to battle with iPod.  Zune is the amazing name the marketing bods in Redmond have chosen in the upcoming portable media war.

Sexy eh?

Well, I used to think Microsoft could trounce pretty much anyone they turned their guns on, however, lets take a look at battles won and lost:

• Microsoft Windows over OS/2 - well, of course, OS/2 was the original bloatware
• Internet Explorer over Netscape - after going public, Netscape lost focus
• Microsoft Office over Visicalc/Wordstar/Word Perfect.  Come on, WP was based in Utah..Now, lets take a look at other battles

• Microsoft Xbox lost to Playstation 2. They got stuffed.
• Microsoft Xbox lost to Nintendo Gamecube. It was close. But no Cigar
• Microsoft Tablet PC lost to the market.
• Microsoft based MP3 players. Samsung, Creative Labs, all the grey boxes.. Suck. Suck. Suck.
• MSN lost to AOL.
• MSN/Search lost to Google

And the debacle surrounding Longhorn… Well lets just not go there.  So, I wonder if Microsoft has a chance against PT Barnum, er, Steve Jobs and his bag of tricks.  I don’t think so. But then again, second place in a market as large as portable media devices aint such a tough pill to swallow.

Unless you’re William H Gates.

Aint the web great, according to ZuneNation, a site already running for the Microsoft Zune:

ZUNE is Microsoft’s Media Player.

In the meantime - check this video of how we should expect the box to look on the shelves of Best Buy, Circuit City and Dixons.: