the auto shut off is saweeeeet.

looks sweet. cant wait for the messenger feature!

Wow Messenger integration and chat - good job MS.

For someone who doesn't own an xbox can an existing xbox owner please list the outstanding new features. thanks a lot.

IM and auto shut-down? Nice, simple things like that are what keeps people hooked.

Excellent... more than I was hoping for.

Leaked? If you listen to the audio commentary, it sounds as if the video was supposed to preceed the update. "On May 7, Microsoft's Spring update..."

These are the changes...

- Releases May 7th.
- Add up to 600 Windows Live Messenger contacts to your Friends List.
- Text chat with up to 6 Live Messenger contacts at once during games or movies.
- The Marketplace will be getting its own Dashboard Blade.
- The Marketplace will be skinned independently of the Dashboard, for special events.
- The Marketplace will be getting a new, easier-to-navigate remake.
- Achievement Pop-ups will now display how many points and which Achievement you have gained.
- Low-power downloading (fans off) and auto-off after finishing queued downloads.
- View partially downloaded video files.

@4 Jeff:
It sounds like the big parts of this update are:
Windows Live/Xbox Live chat support (though I wouldn't want to be "typing" with any sort of device that is not a keyboard)
The Marketplace appears to have been split from Xbox Live, which makes sense with Xbox Video and Zune being in there now
When you score an achievement, it tells you what it was and how many points it was
Generally better downloading, with auto-shutdown for big downloads and being able to watch videos before they've been downloaded 100%

according to one of the hd-dvd staff, they are also going to be fixing the washed out colour issue when you use a VGA cable

Does it come with the auto-bricking feature like the last update. MS needs to boost their sales numbers somehow.

Goddammit, now my mother will actually see how much I play video games!!!!

I must admit, this is some pretty hot stuff. Messenger integration? Auto shut-down? Yeepeee!!

The low power auto-shutdown is probably going to be similar to what the console does when you leave the "Play and Charge" kit plugged in after shutting down. It basically runs until the controller is fully charged and then shuts itself down. It's something we should have had a long time ago but it's nice to see it finally getting added.

What the hell is eBunnies?

Thats awesome news, Its going to suck for me. I messed it up early on. I used a different email address for my gamertag rather then my main one. *PRE 360 LAUNCH I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD CHANGE YOUR GAMERTAG!!* Im a dumbass and till this day I am kicking myself in the ass!!!

MSN messenger on LIVE!?!? HOTNESS, FINALLY!!!!!!!!!

can someone please explain to me why anyone would want to have instant messeging while they're playing a game or watching a movie? what's the appeal here?

I like the the msn additions, but I feel this is a wasted major update. We could of had more like:

- 4 person voice chats (no BS on how its not technically possible, because it is)
- See what DVD a friend is watching (They can take and use TH ID of the dvd to display this information)
- option to turn auto-shutoff of inactive wireless controllers off
- remove xbla demos from gamercard
- change friends online, message recieved, private chat request and achievement unlocked sounds to be uniqe (but leave the current sound for unlocking achievements) (or better yet, let us use our own sounds)
+ more.

@ mike

dude do you really have to see what movie I'm wathing? That's pretty creepy.

@ Ian Von Porter

What's the matter? Mad that the PS3 is already gotta start playing catchup? LOL

The mesenger intergration is a no brainer, but very glad to see it happen. The other cool thing is being able to watch partially downloaded files, cutting your screening time down in half.

The cool thing about messaging people while ur playing a game is to invite ur friends to play while they are not on live.

I would like the ability to have names assigned to my friends gamertags that way your friends list could read "john, bob, etc.. instead of dungeonlord101 and so on.

Yeah, I wouldn't want people to know what movies I'm watching, especially in messenger. Suddenly people would be like "Man, RUSKULL sure watches a lot of porn.", lol.

GOLDENEYE

did anyone else see goldeneye?!

USB Keyboard support / Wireless keyboard please Microsoft!

I'll use my XBOX as my WIndows Messenger machine if i get keyboard support.

@ 26

you do know that you can plug in a usb keyboard and use it to type messages and info right now? try it.

ahh i'm an idiot ignore me.

still, maybe it's a sign?

I was completely unaware people even used Windows Messenger these days. Who knew?

@sunmark007

I didn't even know that ... Time to get a USB keyboard and a Switch since I use my monitor for my 360 anyways XD

This may seem irrelevant, but who is defender90, and why is his name in lowercase on the dashboard, but in caps on xbox.com?

Just a thought. :p

there is no need to hook up a USB keyboard. MS will also be releasing a controller with a small qwerty keyboard built in! the keyboard was designed right in between the two grips..

That's it? Kinda sucks. Seems more like a way to pull people away from AIM than anything. The achievement info is the only thing I really like.

But did they fix the connection problems with the wifi adapter and draft 802.11n routers? Any VGA improvements?

Yay!

"Seems more like a way to pull people away from AIM than anything."

Is there any money that Microsoft can earn by doing this? As far as I know both services are free so why do all this to take away AIM users. It seems more likely they're just doing a service to people who use their products. For free.

"Seems more like a way to pull people away from AIM than anything."

Well, what do you expect? AIM support from Microsoft?

In Canada, we all use MSN anyway, so huzzah for us!

WTB marketplace account security.

I wonder, since you can cross chat Yahoo-Windows Live/Windows Live-Yahoo, then I wonder if they will enable Yahoo-Xbox Live?

Actually would be pretty cool, although i don't see the point of texting while watching a movie, kind of defeats the purpose, but texting with outsiders while playing a single-player intensive game (Blue Dragon, Oblivion) might be fun

And i believe we've already gone over the Goldeneye thing, it's not gonna happen no matter how much anybody dreams, an IP with at least 5 different claimants, and that's in the games industry alone

Nothing groundbreaking (especially for us non-360 owners), but fun bonuses (or it would be if i subscribed to MSN, opposed to AIM :P)

Well, the Messenger client has advertising, so I'd assume that Microsoft makes money through that route.

A year on and still no party chat? although messenger update is nifty its not essential. I feel party chat is so me and a few friends can play our own games and still communicate.

I'm glad that the Market Place is getting its own blade that will make more convient to use.

SO IS THE VIDEO MARKETPLACE ICON IN THE MEDIA TAB GOING TO BE MOVED OR IS THE VIDEO MARKETPLACE STILL GOING TO BE ACCESSIBLE FROM THE MEDIA TAB?

I hope the full set of feature updates is more impressive than this.. Talk about adding a bunch of stuff that nobody asked for.. Why did they even bother taking suggestions from the community? Was it just lip service to think you have some input??

For 1.5 years into the life of this console I expected a lot more.

As was said on another forum, I think that whoever leads this team needs to suffer the same fate as Greg Canessa and give them their walking papers. They are out of touch with what the community wants. Go back and watch the propaganda video that comes on your harddrive about "Inside the 360" and all the promise of customization, etc.. What a load of BS..

These updates are doing nothing but pushing MS's agenda of PC integration, buying video content online(for ridiculous prices & terms) and pushing their formats like WMV. It's not about giving the user the experience they want.

(yes call me a whiner, but sorry I expect the best from my 360)

Alright Razer, what do YOU want from the dashboard? I mean it's all very well saying Microsoft isn't catering to the consumer, but you don't have a single suggestion for what SHOULD be included instead.

Matthew: Why should I have to go into a list when you can just look at any forum/blog speaking of the dashboard and see all the requests the community is asking for? There was a 15 page thread going on Xbox.com when they asked what do you want in an update and probably one new topic every week about it. I don't remember seeing anything about MSN integration or a fancier Achievement pop-up. Any new features are good, but I expect more from a company who specializes in software.

@ razer

Thanks for playing.

I agree with razer to an extent.

Been bitching about this over on 360fanboy to typical fanboy disdain and abuse. I'm very happy that MS is continuing to improve upon the dashboard interface and design, but they really need to be doing A LOT more. All the VOD stuff is great, love the Live Marketplace.

But what they really need is a new "feature". A new hook... and it really needs to be community based. Clan support, multi-person private voice (& video) chat, even if it's only out of game. Make it easier for groups of players to find each other.

I love playing with my friends, but we have a hard time finding another team of people to play against, which is all we really want to do most of the time anyway. Isn't that really the best thing about Live in the first place? Ease of use and giving people what they want?

And don't get me started on forced dashboard ads in a paid-subscription service... somebody'll call me a fag.

Razer; YOU should make a list because it's YOU who is going on about them not putting in things that YOU want. I mean seriously, you couldn't name one thing off the top of your head that you wanted in? The only one I can think of it multi-user chat. For me Live is pretty much feature complete as it stands, and all that really remains is for MS to tidy up the edges. Telling me what Achievement I've unlocked and how many points it's worth? Yeah, smart idea. Telling me what game I have in the drive? Cool! Having a blade for XBLM? Makes sense.

There's no big gaping "background download" hole in the service any more. All they need are these small tweaks.