Paul Thurott, who is usually very reliable and well-informed, notes that WHS will be available both as pre-made servers and as stand-alone software.

http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

TF, I was only trying to elaborate, as I felt that you didn't quite catch my point...

Like I stated above, I was only guessing that people felt like I do that the Xbox is a success. Now I got at least *some* proof:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Microsoft_Xbox_360/4852-6464_7-31355096.html?tag=uolst

Thats pretty high ratings, I would say...

TF, Maybe I'm colored by my own experience, but I would guess that most people are happy with their Xbox. It works as advertised, gaming is great and so is the online experience (and penetration). Compare that to the sizeable amount of units sold and you have a rather large (satisfied) userbase. If the majority of the userbase is satified (some may even be thrilled, outweighting the dissatisfied ones) you only need to get that message out (=marketing)--agreed that takes alot to do (and Apple excels in that department).
Of course Sony still has the largest marketshare, because they have been setting the standard for a very long period of time. My guess is that MS is following a well planned year-long strategy, which don't have to include taking the lead in marketshare or making money this generation. If they can apply and succeed with that with the Zune they may have a chance vs the iPod.

Whether or not the Xbox is (or will be, rather) succesful in the marketplace I guess we will only see once the PS3 arrives. But as an owner I'm very satisfied, and I have been so for almost 9 months. So for me it's succesful. I don't have a source on this one, but it seems to me that most people are quite happy with the Xbox... And if people are satisfied with a product, it will "only" require marketing to increase marketshare.

RE: Posted at 3:15PM on Jul 17th 2006 by Bren

Or is it Sony that is "overcutting"?

MS took marketshare by putting out a "doable" console, which is by no means perfect (no HDMI/digital video output, HD DVD and so on), but it was "doable" at a reasonale retail price and a full year (more?) before the competition...

I'm not saying that the Zune 399$ mark is justified, but 30 gb is enough for me, and if got some outstanding features that in other ways will put take it past the iPod, I might just get one... But they need to do something about the design!

I understand that Zune is being developed by the same people within MS that brought out Xbox 360, which *may be* well on its way to take a huge bite of Sonys marketshare in the video game department. Let us not dismiss this "just" because it is a MS product... If MS execute equally well, they may do the same to Apple.
Not too exited by the design though--hope it's a prototype!