Microsoft' s spring update hits Xbox Live earlier than expected; more than 125 features included in biannual system upgrade.

When Microsoft announced the spring update for the Xbox 360, owners of its next-gen console rejoiced. The update was created in response to its customers' wishes, and it will add several features to the console that users hoped for.

[UPDATE] The company targeted the update' s release " about a week" from its announcement on May 26, and it looks as though Microsoft is holding up its end of the bargain. GameSpot has confirmed that the update is now up on Xbox Live and ready for download. Yesterday, Xbox Live director of programming Larry " Major Nelson" Hryb wrote that the update would be available between 2 p.m.-6 p.m. Pacific Time, but it appears that Microsoft unleashed the download earlier than expected.

The update includes more than 125 new " features and enhancements," the most notable being a download manager that can prioritize six downloads. Navigation of the 360' s dashboard is changed under the update, making it easier for users to find content taken from Xbox Live Marketplace. The various media functions of the 360, including the DVD player, music player, and video viewer, have also been upgraded with new playback options.

The update is free of charge, but currently requires an Xbox Live account, either Silver or Gold. According to Microsoft, the download takes less than one minute and will be stored on the system' s built in memory--no hard drive space is required.

For a full list of features added with the update, head over to the official Xbox Web site. The next major update is scheduled to take place this fall.
watchout for the new features;

NEW FEATURES

* “Download manager” - Marketplace items now download in the background, queue up to six pieces of content
* DVD bookmark support will remember the film’s timing and location when resuming viewing
* Fast-forward and rewind now offered at 2x -16x for any videos saved to hard drive
* “Boot to Dashboard” setting will bypass the loading of any disc in the drive and open directly to Dashboard during power-on
* Begin slideshows from any photo
* Music player saves “shuffle” setting
* Much player save “repeat” setting
* Music player now displays which file is currently playing in the playlist
* Music volume level persists between game / reboots
* 8 new locales added (Chile, Brazil, India, South Africa, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia)
* Separate settings now offered for Game and User volume controls
* Themes can now be set from the “System” blade on the Dashboard
* User-selected music continues play when switching from Dashboard to game or game to Dashboard
* “All Arcade Games” added as a selection in the Xbox Live Arcade area
* Personal gamer pictures allowed as Gamertiles – displayed only to those on your Friends List
* Added support to disable sound effects when navigating Dashboard
* Instantaneous “Change Theme” option added upon downloading new Dashboard themes
* Preserve folder structure of source when viewing photos
* A / B labels now provided to identify memory units in Dashboard
* Online status set to “Away” when screensaver becomes active

SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

DVD Player

* Improved audio/video sync after extended pauses
* Improved visual quality
* DVD player outputs at native resolution over VGA connection
* Improved playback smoothness
* Improved fast-forward and rewind smoothness
* DVD play continues to attempt to read a disc after “disc read” error
* DVD play à Pause à Play jitter / out of synch issues improved
* DVD play à Slow Play à Play jitter / out of synch issues improved
* Repaired issues with missing menu selection icon from DVD disc menu for certain films
* Improved Xbox 360 Guide efficiency during certain films
* Repaired playback stutter during certain films

Music Player

* Player now populates music data (Title, Artist, etc.) when no track information is available
* User music is now pauses, instead of stopping, when games override user-selected background music
* Selecting an artist’s album no longer displays albums for all artists
* Improved performance when retrieving playlists from a Windows Media connection
* List music tracks in track-order when viewing albums by specific artist
* Unified music controls for music player in Dashboard and pop-up Guide
* Improved playback for Mono AAC-encoded files
* Improved connection timing between console and CD database over Internet
* Player no longer allows hard-drive selection when no hard-drive is connected
* Removed handling of MTP/USB devices when playing music from them more robust
* Improved error codes / messaging associated with unplayable content

Localization Improvements

* Fixed partially truncated strings in Portuguese, Spanish and Italian
* Korean clock / date format corrected after initial set-up
* Fixed system hang when changing the language of the console immediately after signing out
* Korean virtual keyboard “down” navigation now works for lower-right button
* Korean virtual keyboard caps disabled for input mode
* Fixed overlapping characters for pre-paid Gold membership card (Japanese localization)
* Removed extra spaces in several translated words (French localization)
* PC name displayed properly when containing Japanese characters
* Support single apostrophe character for Japanese virtual keyboard

Memory Area Improvements

* Streamlined selection – no profile selection required
* Improved overall performance, allowing quicker access to content
* Improved content views including name, file type, size, profile owner and location
* Faster identification of file types and fewer steps for actions such as copy, move, delete, etc.
* Capacity (or percentage-full) of storage device now consistent between select-a-device and storage scenes
* Device selection now shown on each screen to improve usability

Miscellaneous System Improvements

* Time elapsed now displayed when playing music files
* Enhanced categorization of media library
* Accelerated scrolling of large music lists
* New “shuffle” icon
* Repeat / Shuffle icon now operates as toggle button
* Default button for manual IP address is now “A” instead of “Done”
* Hidden and system folders are no longer displayed from MTP / mass storage devices
* Difficulty levels for gamer profiles ordered correctly
* Added additional line and word-wrap to “Publisher” in video area
* Shuffle / Random no longer skips last image in list when viewing photos
* Improved handling of Friend Requests between Gamertags that have changed names
* No longer asked “Exist to Dash?” when switching between areas in the Dashboard
* New error messages for when Windows Live ID requires password change
* Unlocked Achievements now displayed first in Game Summary page
* Selecting an Achievement now shows the specific Achievement details
* Full date now displayed for “Member Since” and “Next Bill Date” tabs on Membership scene
* Updated messaging for deleting arcade games purchased by different profiles
* No longer launch music CD in disc-tray when moving from Live sign-up to Dashboard or Network Troubleshooter
* Improved voice quality when connected through wired gamepad
* Show “Last Played Game” selection in Xbox Live Arcade first before enumerating all games (when Arcade game was last game played)
* Improved performance of picture enumeration from iPods formatted for Mac
* Adopt latest updates to Cero-based ratings for Family Settings
* Show videos downloaded from Marketplace in the Video area of the Media blade
* Improved usability around “Play Now” when downloading demos, trailers and videos
* Added support for South Africa-specific Family Settings
* Updated support for Japanese game ratings
* Video area changed to include game trailers and entertainment videos
* Improved robustness of Gamerscore when doing account recoveries
* Improved messaging around handling corrupt or non-fully recovered profiles
* Improved download performance for popular content being downloaded through Marketplace
* Total USB keyboard support
* Testing Live connection while streaming music from PC works correctly
* Next item / Focus sound not played when scrolling past the bottom of the video list
* Handle profiles on memory units inserted into system while enumerating profiles from other storage locations
* Warning / Alert icons now show as part of deleting items in Memory area
* Repeat rate for remote control matches game controller repeat rate
* “A” button disabled when in a list with no items available
* Wireless battery level added to mini-pop-up guide over backward-compatible games
* Pop-up guide / Dashboard now supports USB keyboard
* Console no longer enters “charge” mode when shutdown and the battery has been removed from wireless controller
* System no longer waits indefinitely when attempting to contact Windows Media Connect service on XP PC
* Improved Marketplace storage device selector
* Correctly set focus on selected item when back button pressed on “select a game” scene
* Notify users when multiple wireless SSIDS with identical names are within reach
* Provide Gold membership information when trying to join a session or accepting game invites with Silver accounts
* New text to highlight the ability to clear the passcode for Live account signing
* Photo slideshow no longer resumes when pressing “previous” or “next” from paused state
* Improved handling of corrupt profiles when deleting them
* No longer turn off wireless gamepads after system update reboot
* More robust handling of initial setup experience for memory unit users
* Improved handling of backward-compatible update experience, reboot back into Xbox v1 environment instead of Dashboard
* Improved handling for " block communications" from other players
* Improved keypress sounds when using USB keyboard
* Improved usability and performance of content enumeration for storage devices
* Show visual location for where Xbox Live Arcade games reside
* Improved user messaging when overwriting content while copying
* Improved consistency of messaging between " sign out" and " switch profile"
* Updated troubleshooter text for connection to Windows PC' s joined to domain
* Better support for Xbox 360 game disc recognition
* Improved initial setup text messaging
* Improved overall error message terminology
* Game updates downloaded to memory unit no longer show " please reinsert" notification when memory unit removed
* More robust support for handling game deletes from memory unit and simultaneously removing memory unit
* Improved system performance between console and affiliated Windows Media Connect PC.

This is actually a fairly important topic, but i almost overlooked it because of the threads title.

I' m really happy with the update and some of the new features are very welcome additions. Obviously the download manager revision and being able to queue downloads and download while playing games is the main change but the other tweaks and additions shouldn' t be overlooked.

ÿeah the download improvements were much needed, its really great to have it now! Im looking forward to booting up my box at home

Yep I like the changes too, esp being able to download in the background, boot to dashboard and rewind and fast forward in trailers. Haven' t noticed the performance benefits they mentioned however.

There are a couple of repeated sections that seem unnecessary imo, like where to get the arcade games from (was it like this before?). And you now have to check two catagories for new demos and new trailers. I preferred it when they were together. These are small things though.

My personal issues are that I didn' t get my PC monitor aspect ratio options, and it still won' t let me cancel my live subscription renewal via live! I should really just fork out the 30 for a yearly one! [:' (]

My oblivion locks up WAY more since I installed the dashboard update. Just a thought.

the startup to the dashboard is definitely a useful change. i dont know how many times I have wanted to play Geometry Wars and had to deal with some game booting up first.

I hope my oblivion doesnt luck up!

Reminds me i should play it soon again!

Damn world of warcraft!

Nice, Microsoft really seem to be getting Live down to an exact science. My friend had mentioned an update today in class, but hey, I didn' t pay attention, seeing as how I have a serious lack of Xbox. Hopefully, Sony will pick up on this, and create (nick from microsoft) something along these lines.

ms is really trying to advance on it xboxlive to a limt that won' t come near ps own