ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley points out that Microsoft's Zune player, so heavily hawked by Ballmer and Gates, is incompatible with a even more heavily hyped MSFT product: Microsoft Vista.

So far, the Softies haven't provided any public info (that I've heard/seen) about when the company will introduce a patch or update enabling the Zune to work with Vista.

I already know Microsoft's justification: Vista only RTM'd on November 8. So there was no way that the Zune team could have made sure the final Vista bits would work with Zunes.

All I can say is Microsoft really needs to have a Vista update — or at least a public Vista support strategy — for Zune by the time the company does the business launch of Vista on November 30.

But News.com reports that Softie Scott Erickson says a patch will make Zune compatible by the time Vista goes on mass sale in January.

- Richard Koman