Microsoft takes a shot at Apple

SOFTWARE giant Microsoft has taken direct aim at Apple Computer with the launch of online download store MSN Music.

Apple's iTunes has been a massive hit in the market place and is designed to complement its iPod digital music player. But songs downloaded from the Microsoft site will not be able to be used on the iPod.

'We believe we've built a better service than Apple,' MSN vice president Yusuf Mehdi said.

He added that MSN would launch with more than 100,000 songs and aims to quickly expand that to more than a million. The songs will be encoded in at a higher bit rate than Apple's standard format for iTunes, resulting in better sound quality, Mehdi added.

The service matches Apple's 99-cent-a-song pricing.

Microsoft says MSN will be integrated with the launch of its revamped search engine, so music downloads would be included in search results for music-related queries.