by , 10:00 AM EDT, September 2nd, 2004
In time for Microsoft's rollout of MSN Music, its long-awaited competitor to the iTunes Music Store, Walt Mossberg has penned a review of the new service for the Wall Street Journal. While he says that MSN Music has some nice features lacking in Apple's iTunes, Microsoft's offering is "no match" for iTunes. At least not yet. From his review:
I've been testing Microsoft's new store in advance of today's launch and comparing it with Apple's much-praised iTunes music store. While the Microsoft entry has a few nice touches, it is typical of many brand-new Microsoft products -- fairly basic and bland, but marred by some rookie mistakes and accompanied by promises to get much better over time.
He closes by saying, "Overall, MSN Music is no match for iTunes -- yet. But if you don't have an iPod and want or need to buy music in Microsoft's format, it may be a good choice over time."
You can find the full review at the Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) We recommend it as an interesting read, especially for those who can't try out MSN Music for themselves, as the service is not available on the Mac.
In the meanwhile, Microsoft isn't going to be winning over any converts to MSN Music through Walt Mossberg's review. That, as usual, is good for Apple.