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A service outage Monday means Zune customers could see this error message for up to 48 hours if they try to connect to the Zune’s online store. Microsoft said the outage is for “scheduled maintenance”, but declined to say what accounted for the extended time frame.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News)

Microsoft warned Zune owners on Friday to prepare for an extended service outage starting Monday.

In an e-mail sent at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Microsoft warned that the outage could last for “up to 48 hours.” The e-mail said the outage, which begins at 12:01 a.m. PDT on Monday, is for “scheduled maintenance.”

A Microsoft representative would not offer more specifics or say why the outage was for such a long period of time. During the outage, the Zune Social, the Zune.Net forums as well as the Zune Marketplace online store will all be offline, Microsoft said. While the Zune devices themselves won’t stop working, many of its features are heavily tied to the service, including its Zune Pass subscription service, new channels feature as well as the ability to stream music over the Internet at certain Wi-Fi hot spots.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you,” Microsoft said. “Please check back soon. We look forward to sharing our picks, plays and recommendations with you.”

The outage comes less than two weeks after Microsoft launched the latest version of its player, service and online store.

Update: A Microsoft representative confirmed Friday evening that the “downtime is not related to any security concerns or issues. The company did not immediately say whether it planned to offer any type of credit to Zune Pass subscribers because of the outage.