IT commentators in the US reckon that Microsoft could announce its long awaited move into the download sector this week. The re-invented MSN online music store is likely to copy many of the features of Apple's iTunes, adopting the pay-per-track model Apple made popular when it launched its download service last year.
Microsoft's service is unlikely to come with quite the same marketing spend of its rivals, however the computer giant is still hopeful it can win considerable market dominance, despite being a late arrival in the sector.
This dominance will, of course, be achieved through capitalising on Microsoft's existing user-base. As consumers naturally upgrade to the more iTunes-style version 10 of the Windows Media Player they will find their computer is automatically set up to access the MSN download platform. Microsoft will also hope to capitalise on the 300 million odd people around the world who regularly visit the MSN website.
Unlike two of its key competitors - Apple's iTunes and Sony's Connect - the MSN service will eneavour to be hardware agnostic - that is to say tracks purchased from their platform will play on over 60 different MP3 players (though, not those made by Apple or Sony).