| Component | Required | Recommended |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows 7 (all editions), Windows Vista (all editions), Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (Home, Professional, Tablet PC, or Media Center Edition 2005 with Rollup Update 2), or Mac OS X with Boot Camp running Windows 7 or Windows Vista. The Zune Music + Video software won't work on versions of Windows earlier than Windows XP SP3, any 64-bit version of Windows XP, or any version of Windows Server. | Windows 7 Home Premium Visit Windows Update and install any high-priority updates that are available for your computer. |
| Processor | A 500Mhz Pentium class processor or better | A 1-gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor |
| RAM (memory) | 256 megabytes (MB) | 1 gigabyte (GB) or higher 32-bit or 2 GB or higher 64-bit |
| Free hard disk space | 200 MB | 16 gigabytes (GB) 32-bit or 20 GB 64-bit |
| Optical drive | CD or DVD drive | CD-R drive to play and burn CDs |
| Internet access | Active connection (dial-up, cable, DSN, LAN) to buy content | Active broadband connection (cable, DSL, LAN) to buy and stream content |
| Sound card | 16-bit sound card | 24-bit sound card |
| Monitor | Super VGA (800 — 600) resolution | 1024 — 768 or higher resolution |
| Video card | Video card with 64 MB RAM (video RAM or VRAM) and DirectX 9.0b | DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver |
| USB | USB 1.1 | USB 2.0 or better for faster synchronization |
| Sound output device | Speakers or headphones | Speakers or headphones |
| Internet browser | Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher | Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher |
| Other | | Wi-fi network to wirelessly sync your player to your computer without cables Xbox 360 console to stream your media collection to your TV or home entertainment system |
