Two weeks after its highly anticipated release, Microsoft’s Zune music player has yet to make a significant dent in the iPod dominated MP3 player market. Ranked eighth in sales during the opening week on Amazon.com’s Top 25 List of bestsellers, the Zune has fallen to a pathetic 74th. Apple’s newest generation of iPods, unveiled in September, still hold nine of the top 25 spots.

The Zune includes the ability to wirelessly transfer select content from any Zune player to another, but this content is limited to songs recorded by the user, podcasts, pictures and a selection of music by artists willing to let their music be traded for free.

Additional features promoted as “iPod killers” are the Zune’s FM radio receiver and ability to play video in both portrait and landscape modes on the Zune’s bright three-inch screen. The downside to its landscape mode is the lack of both videos and podcasts on Zune’s Marketplace downloading site. Zune users are currently limited to playing movies they have recorded themselves.

A rather obvious misleading advertisement on Zune.net, the official Web site of the media player, is that its software can import songs and movies that users already have in iTunes or Windows Media Player. These files are limited to ones imported from CDs and MP3 files only; files bought from the iTunes store (both songs and movies) are protected and cannot be played on the Zune player.

The last two major flaws in the Zune concept are the non-replaceable, weak battery and the design itself. The Zune’s white, chocolate brown or black body imitates the iPod’s shape and scroll wheel without succeeding: the body is bulky and the “wheel” does not scroll, but rather clicks.

All of these are valid arguments against buying the Zune, which most consumers fortunately are seeing, but they are not to say Zune does not have its strengths. The wireless transfer feature will surely be useful for some, and plenty of other MP3 players are picking up on the FM transmitter trend (just not the iconic iPod.) The 30 GB hard drive is more than adequate for music and pictures (but may be a bit small for video) and the ability to set the background image from your personal pictures as well as album art is a definite plus.

Bottom Line: The Zune may cut it for some people who wish to avoid the trendy iPod or anther brand of MP3 but in the end there is little to be excited about.