Microsoft has launched a new online store for music downloads in a move aimed at taking on Apple Computer's popular iTunes music service.
MSN Music, which is aimed at luring more users to the world's largest software maker's online service, launched in beta, or test mode, offering songs for download at 99 cents (55 pence) each, the same price as Apple's online store.
Users can access MSN Music from a browser as well as a brand new version of the Windows Media Player that also was unveiled.
"We believe we've built a better service than the Apple service," Mr Yusuf Mehdi, MSN vice president, said in an interview.
Mr Mehdi said that MSN Music would launch with more than 100,000 songs and grow quickly to more than one million. The songs will be encoded in the Windows Media format at a higher bit rate than Apple's standard format for iTunes, resulting in better sound quality, Mehdi added.
Mr Mike McGuire, analyst at Gartner G2, said that MSN Music had "serious potential" but said that the competition between MSN Music and iTunes will be more about brand recognition rather than underlying technology.
"They're [Microsoft] battling a real powerful brand," Mr McGuire said, saying that Apple's end-to-end user experience would be hard to match.