So the spring dashboard update is out (as of 9pm NZ time last night) and for the most part it’s a significant improvement. While most of the 125 features will go unnoticed, the 5 or so new features that are visible (or should I say more visible) are almost perfect upgrades. My top five favourite improvements are:
1) The new download manager is by far the best new feature and I would imagine as a result of it the number of downloads on Xbox live will explode. To be honest before this feature the only time I downloaded marketplace content is when I was sleeping or at work, and that’s all assuming I remembered to start the download. Thankfully now those days are gone and my only problem now is staying under my data cap.
2) Boot to Dashboard is a simple feature but in my opinion one of the best. I often just feel like playing an arcade game or starting up my media centre but if a game was in the drive it would play that first. Really it just didn’t make using a media centre as streamlined as it could have been. I think it would be interesting to know how many people select boot to dashboard as there default setting; I would bet it’s over 50%.
3) The marketplace has had a much needed tidy up, with a far more relevant set of menus to select your downloads from. While these improvements are welcome I do feel that it doesn’t go quite far enough. For example it is still common to find items in areas they just don’t belong. For example I found penny arcade themes and picture packs under community videos? Clearly themes and picture packs aren’t videos. While little things like this are annoying they are just little gripes on an otherwise significant improvement in the usability of marketplace.
4) The improvements to the music player are fantastic. On the old dashboard I always hated how I’d be listening to music and as soon as I went to do anything interesting (play and arcade game for example) it would stop playing my music and start the games music instead. As with the other improvements in the spring update things are now feeling more streamlined, as my tunes just keep playing nice and smooth no matter what I’m doing. A very welcome improvement.
5) Support for the up coming Xbox 360 Camera built in looks to be amazing. Of course I can’t use any of it at this stage but it sure does make me want a camera more than ever. The cynic inside me says the point in including these features now is to drive interest/desire to purchase the Camera add on (which will work/is working on me) but at the same time it’s nice to know it will be fully supported as soon as I buy it.
So despite a few minor things (which are arguably not problems at all) the spring update is a much welcome upgrade that is sure to please the majority of users. There’s only one question that now remains, what’s going to be in the next update???
*Update:
[For more information on the update check out the spring update article on Xbox.com]
Technorati* dashboard, improvements, Microsoft, new feature, Reviews, Software, spring update, Technology, update, Xbox 360