"Microsoft plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to catch up
to Apple Computer in the music business, but expects the effort to take
several years …"

Source: CNET News.com

CNet News has an article up with some more information from Microsoft on their plans for Zune and taking on the wildly successful Ipod brand, taken from comments from one of their execs at a financial analysts meeting. 

Most of it is not hugely surprising – the highlights seem to be that MS expects it to take years of effort to catch up with Ipod, their investment in this area will be large, and that ‘creating a sense of community’ is a key factor in its success. 

Check out CNET’s article for more information:

Microsoft see Zune effort as a long haul