As pointed out by Rock4christ recently in the forums , SOApitstop has some tips for speeding up the zune software by removing some of the.. well pointless flashy effects. To do this you create a shortcut for the zune software, and edit the property's of the shortcut(by adding extra info to the command line).

Some of the effects can be caused by these phrases:

• -animations:(true|false) Enable or disable fading effects.
• -gdi Use GDI instead of DirectX, seems to disable animations and probably give some legacy support. This is mentioned in the Zune 2.3 release notes.
• -switchtogdi Permanently switch to GDI rendering. makes registry entry change in general settings: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Zune\GeneralSettings\UseGDI=1
• -dx9 Use DirectX9 compatibility? Probably.
• -direction:(rtl|ltr) Use Right-to-Left rendering for languages that require it.

So, if you value speed over effects, then some of these could help you out.

Thanks to Kaseyart and Rock4christ for sending this in. It seems that Gizmodo has gotten their hands on a developer demo showing this. This could be a 3rd party hack in the works or maybe something being worked on for a future patch or release. BTW, aren't we due for a patch soon?

At Microsoft's Techfest, a researcher was showing off a smart shuffle system that uses tags and meta data like tempo and genre to direct playlist creation in a portable music device. The demo was being done on a first generation Zune.

The system is being developed in direct response to the huge number of songs people carry around on their media players, and specifically the millions of songs a Zune library can stock using a Zune pass. The system automatically recommends new songs based on songs played, and the logic is continuously "steered" by voting tracks up and down.

Source: Gizmodo

From: Zune Thoughts:

Adam Krebs on Zune Thought recently posted his thoughts on a tagging work-around to help those with tagging woes.  Very effective especially if your wondering why your music doesn't have album art or show up in your "recently listened to" music in the Social.

His excerpt which references Shawn Oster's Blog is just another reminder that we are waiting for a Zune Software update that would put us back in control of our music libraries.  At the present time the software doesn't have the capabilities that we need to properly manage our music. "Make it your own" Without being able to provide any positive feedback for a solution, I revert to talking about temporary alternatives.

Shawn Oster points out how easy it is to hook the backend of the Zune marketplace into MP3Tag to get properly tagged and recognized files. He also points out that this could be helpful in getting Social to recognize the songs you play (though I'm not convinced of his argument that Social takes the album metadata from your computer--I'm pretty sure that comes from their servers).

He brings up another cool tidbit: "zune.net just made their 800x800 album art available via the back-end service I'm using so now you can grab full 800x800 album art even on tracks you didn't purchase directly from the Marketplace. Just download Marketplace.zip and extract the single Marketplace.src into your %appdata%Mp3tagdatasources folder and you'll be rocking! I'd also suggest you download the very latest beta of Mp3tag because the tag sources (what Marketplace plugs into) dialog is much easier to figure out for first timers, plus I always include the artist in the track listing and version 2.39n supports splitting this into the correct tags."

Source: Zune Thoughts

Wow. There are a ton of bullet items in this patch! The following was posted by Cesar in the Zune.net forums...

• Fixed top crashing bugs submitted by users
• Fixed bug where Zune software thinks the device memory is full (but isn’t)

Key Marketplace fixes

• Allow users to view top music videos in marketplace
• Misc improved error messaging including splitting sign-in issues into 4 separate errors for customer and support benefit
• Retrieval of subscription download history no longer stalls if the content is revoked
• Better handling of accounts that have expired credit cards
• Podcasts with spaces in their name can now be subscribed to
• Marketplace no longer blocks explicit content purchases when parental controls are set to allow
• Points balance label is now updated when user purchases new points

Key Player UI fixes

• Allow zooming in/out (2x, 4x, fullscreen) during video playback to prevent stretched playback
• Ability to switch Zune to GDI mode through command-line parameter

Key Podcast fixes

• Allow subscriptions to podcasts larger than 10MB
• Fixed some parsing errors that prevented some podcasts from syncing to the device
• Fixed bug where podcasts were unsubscribing themselves

Key Setup fixes

• Fixed numerous bugs affecting build to build upgrades
• Improved installation for users accessing from corporate networks
• Fixed driver uninstall failures
• Included device 2.3 firmware in client download
• Failure in creating system restore point no longer blocks client installation

Key Sync fixes

• Fixed issues with reverse sync
• Fixes issues with sync meter UI showing incorrect information as to what is on the device
• Fixed issues using wireless sync with multiple devices to the same PC
• Fixed a few different issues setting up wireless sync
• Device is no longer being reported as full even after deleting large file from device
• Device content is no longer being turned into guest content when it shouldn’t be
• Content with bad metadata now shows properly so it can be removed from device
• Turning off “autolaunch when a Zune device is connected” no longer prevents “Sync Now” from working from a wirelessly connected device
• Podcast bookmarking is now transferred/saved to the device
• Wireless sync connection continues to work after rebooting host computer
• Unsubscribe podcast from device now works properly
• Changing album art in the client now updates the device as well
• Duplicate tracks are no longer synced to the device twice

Key Xbox Streaming bug fixes

• Xbox Streaming now monitors the rip folder if user changes default location
• No need to reinstall client to fix Xbox Streaming when upgrading from XP to Vista

Key Infrastructure fixes

• Vista x64 customers can now get to web help from error messages
• Client no longer crashes if database is corrupted

Key Library fixes

• Changes in pictures or video metadata made outside client will now get updated in the library
• UI is now smoother during file groveling
• When a track is added to an album we will now always update the track on disc
• User can now update album art for marketplace tracks
• 'Unknown Artist' metadata is no longer written to files when writing out user edit of album name
• Renaming  an artist now more reliably keeps the change
• Two different copies of the same album no longer get duplicated down to one when it shouldn’t
• Access violation no longer occurs when checking song properties in the burn list
• Multi-disc albums imported from iTunes no longer show in the client as a single disc album
• Thumbnails for video content now extract on XP properly

Give us some feedback on the patch when you apply it... Also, check this thread to give input too.

From Zune Insider:

Quick FYI:  Zune will be issuing a software update today around 10am Pacific.  There are no new features in this update, but it does provide some performance enhancements around set-up, sync and as always general reliability

Source: Zune Insider

A member of Zuneboards, has created a program to allow your Zune to sync with other media programs.

zAlternator is a program that will allow the Zune to be picked up and synced with programs other than the Zune program. It has been fully tested and proven to allow the Zune to be picked up and synced with the Zune program (duh), Windows Media Player 11, Winamp, and MediaMonkey. I have been unable to fully test the iTunes side of the program, but hopefully it should work.

For more info about zAlternator, visit Zuneboards

Thanks rock4christ.

Frequent GotZune Reader, WETWORKER, posted this up on YouTube the other day. Looks really cool.

The Zune Diagnostic Tool compiles data to help Product Support Services diagnose Zune USB and wireless sync connection problems.

System Requirements - Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2 (Windows XP users must have Service Pack 2 or higher.)

Instructions

Download this tool and run it on the PC.
1. Open the Zune software.
2. Run the ZuneDevices.exe tool.
3. Connect the device and wait for any errors to be displayed.
3a. For USB connections, look for the device to appear in device manager under portable devices. There may be a yellow exclamation mark next to the device.
3b. For wireless connections, use Settings->Wireless->Sync Now on the device and wait for the device to display an error, usually one to two minutes after displaying "Connecting to PC".
4. Disconnect the device. For wireless connections, click the Cancel or Ok button.
5. Click on the Report tab of the tool, then click "Save As" and save a copy of the report text for analysis.
6. Send the report text file to Product Support Services.

Source: Microsoft via ClicZune

The new 2.3 update wasn't supposed to add any features, but apparently it did. metheweirdo over at Zune Boards noticed this and brought it to their attention. Pretty cool. I like this feature since I download podcasts to try out all the time. Often times I listen and realize that the podcast sucks. I have to rely on my brain to get home and remember to delete it. Now I am golden.

Now you can unsubscribe from a podcast you no longer want directly from the device - another cool feature iPods don't have! Simply click the center of the middle button while listening to any podcast to see this option!

Source : Zune Boards via Zune Thoughts and Heatwave

I haven't noticed a difference in the time I have been poking around, but it's there. ( I didn't have any issues with 2.2 anyhow )

The upgrade took all of 2 minutes from plugging in to done... This upgrade is optional it says and doesn't start automaticly. You will have to click the settings tab, then device, then finally device update. This is what you should see at that point.

From this point it's automatic... Just don't remove the Zune from your cradle or sync cable.

And we are done!