Walt Mossberg takes on the MSN Music store

Oh, unkie Walt is back in effect, today spewing ever-righteous prose on the beta of the new MSN Music store which technically isn't officially available until October 12th. We're with him that it seems like too little, too late—charging the same 99 cents for each individual track (or more, as some songs will cost up to $4.00 depending on length and whether they're pre-release) doesn't exactly positively differentiate it much from Apple's iTunes Music Store, especially given that MSN Music's catalog is only half as large (they only have 500,000 tracks compared to Apple's cool mil). Then again, Microsoft isn't courting iPod owners, they're going after pretty much everyone else and Mossberg confirms the service is compatible with dozens of non-iPod digital audio players. The other primary advantage/difference is that while it's possible (and easier) to purchase songs through Microsoft's new Windows Media Player 10, they also offer the option of purchasing music using directly from the MSN Music website.