Skip to main content

Microsoft Xbox 360 update comes to all, introducing disruptive changes

The Oct. 16 roll out of the new Xbox 360 dashboard was a little confusing for Microsoft’s customers. Some people were able to download the update immediately, while others were forced to wait. “To ensure a stable release, this will be a gradual deployment across subscribers and regions over the course of the next week,” said Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb. The wait’s over. Microsoft made Tuesday the final release roll out for the new Xbox 360 dashboard for all.

Just to recap what’s new in this package, there’s a new layout for the dashboard, which is now customizable thanks to “Pinning,” a tool for marking which apps you most want on the front page. Zune Video has also officially been changed to Xbox Video, and the Bing-fueled Xbox 360 version of Internet Explorer is in as well. All of these new features are really secondary to the real role of the new interface, which is creating greater parity between Microsoft’s home entertainment business and its PC business which is undergoing a major overhaul with the Friday release of Windows 8. Microsoft wants its products to be as broadly familiar, and idiosyncratic, as Apple’s mobile and PC products.

Recommended Videos

There’s a fly in the proverbial ointment, though. The update removes some features from the Xbox 360 that Microsoft was all too proud of just a few years ago, namely the Twitter and Facebook apps. A Microsoft rep told IGN last week that the company was “retiring the Facebook and Twitter apps” in order to “streamline” app functionality on Xbox 360.

On the one hand, those devoted apps aren’t wholly necessary anymore thanks to the introduction of the Xbox version of Internet Explorer. This is still a television-based living room device, though, and tailored apps are guaranteed to be more usable than the basic web pages, no matter how streamlined the new console web browser is. So why remove the apps?

To better prepare Xbox users for a console that uses Windows 8. The Xbox 720 is said to use the greatly changed Windows platform, and since that’s the case, Microsoft will naturally want Xbox users to leverage Windows 8’s patented “People” app for social networking rather than individually branded apps. That will presumably help strengthen the Windows ecosystem for users. Whether that will work depends entirely on how users cotton to Windows 8 on PCs first. If Microsoft’s new OS is met with the same sort of scorn as past refreshes like Windows Vista, it may have to reconsider these changes.

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
At basically $105, the Ryzen 5 7600X is the best gaming CPU to buy right now
The Ryzen 5 7600X sitting among thermal paste and RAM.

I don't usually get my hopes up for Black Friday CPU deals, but I found one that's just too good to pass up. Right now, you can get the Ryzen 5 7600X -- still one of the best processors for value-focused gaming -- for basically $105. No, that's not the actual price listed on Newegg where you'll find the deal, but there's a lot going on with this sale.

For starters, the CPU itself is marked down by 24%, bringing the $299 list price down to $225. Not a great deal for a last-gen chip. However, you can save an additional $30 by using the promo code BFEDY2A33, and more importantly, you'll get a free Kingston NV3 1TB hard drive with the order. That's a PCIe 4.0 SSD that normally costs $90.

Read more
This Asus laptop with Copilot+ is $350 off at Best Buy
Asus Vivobook S 15 CoPilot+ front view showing display and keyboard.

You can do quite a bit of gaming on the go these days, thanks to all the handheld consoles and gaming laptops that are on the market. Regarding the latter, we’re always on the lookout for top discounts on the gaming gear we all want to own, which leads us to this wonderful discovery:

For a limited time, when you purchase the Asus Vivobook S 15 with Copilot+ at Best Buy, you’ll pay $550. At full price, this model sells for $900. We tested this PC earlier this year, and our reviewer said the following: “The Asus Vivobook S15 is the best large-display Copilot+ laptop so far in an old-school form factor.”

Read more
This gorgeous Mac mini hub exacerbates the power button placement problem
M4 Mac mini with Satechi hub on a desk.

Satechi, known for its high-quality tech accessories, is updating its Mac mini hub for the new M4 model. Like previous hubs, it allows Mac mini owners to expand their storage and ports while preserving airflow, wireless signal, and performance. It looks awesome, but this time, the design highlights the problematic nature of the new Mac mini's placement of its power button.

With previous Mac mini models, the power button was at the back, making it easily accessible even when it was in a Satechi hub. The new button placement on the bottom of the PC, however, may prove even more annoying for anyone who wants to buy this accessory.

Read more