There’s one codename that isn’t brand new, but is still a key piece of the Microsoft Mobile puzzle: Dorado. Dorado is the codename for the Zune HD interface software for the PC. (Here’s a video about Dorado that even refers to it by its codename from Central Planning TV, one of the agencies working with Microsoft on the Zune HD branding/marketing.)
As Zune HD users, of which I am one, know, the Dorado software is very un-Microsoft-like. There’s no Windows Start menu, no Ribbon, and, while it incorporates technologies developed inside Microsoft, it offers a very different kind of user experience.
Currently, Dorado is the back end hub for Zune players. But as Microsoft officials have said, the company isn’t staying in the dedicated media player business; its plan is to turn Zune into a service for music subscription, video subscription and more for media players, phones, gaming consoles (and maybe PCs, too).
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