"Streamlining" seems to be the buzzword du jour up in Redmond; not only has Microsoft, over the past few months, wiped out some of its underperforming legacy properties with the enthusiasm of the Visigoths in Rome, but now it's also gone and decided to eliminate most of its Zune media player line, as well.

The sole survivor of this massacre will be Microsoft's touch-screen competitor to Apple's iPod Touch, the new Zune HD, which hits the streets on Sept. 15. Currently, Amazon.com's selling a 32GB version of the Zune HD for $289.99 and a 16GB version for $219.99, in what seems to be a very deliberate move to undercut Apple's iPod prices. In addition, Microsoft apparently plans on releasing new Zune software, as well as Zune video on Xbox Live.

The Zune HD features touch-screen capability and Wi-Fi, like the iPod Touch, but it also includes functionality such as an integrated HD radio receiver and high-definition video output capabilities. For those who wish to express their rockin' individuality through a mass-produced media device, Microsoft offers a variety of funky patterns that can be etched on the back of the Zune casing.

Microsoft's announcement about the paring of the Zune line seems to mimic, at least in certain ways, the strategy of its rival.

Despite the near-ubiquity of the iPod -- an NPD Group research note indicated that, as of June, Apple's devices held 70 percent of the market versus 2 percent for the Zune line -- Apple reported during its July 21 earnings call that in the quarter iPod sales had declined by 7 percent to 10.2 million units sold.

At the time, Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer suggested that the decline in sales of traditional iPods was an expected one, as the iPod Touch and iPhone muscle their way into more and more market share.

Touch-screens, it seems, are another step closer to officially becoming the way of the future when it comes to portable media players. On a personal note, I find this mildly irritating; the traditional iPod's click-wheel meant you could, with a little bit of practice, deftly skip between songs or even change playlists without needing to remove the device from your pocket. Try that with the iPod Touch, and you're liable to accidentally thumb the volume control to maximum, instantly liquefying your eardrums to the consistency of a fruit smoothie.

However, these touch-screen devices allow for far broader functionality than their mechanical predecessors -- I couldn't wipe out hundreds of zombies during my morning commute on my first-generation iPod, for example, or watch the Avatar trailer. Combine the Zune HD news with rumors that Microsoft has been exploring how best to develop mobile applications for the device, and it's clear that Microsoft seems interested in creating its own variation on Apple's media music/video/games/apps ecosystem.

Will it succeed? As I mentioned in a previous Microsoft Watch blog posting, Microsoft has succeeded big in the media area before against rivals who had a substantial head start -- I'm thinking of the Xbox here -- but the iPod in many ways represents a far tougher opponent. I can see Microsoft gaining a few more points of market share with the Zune HD, but for the moment I still feel the advantage lies with Apple.