Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft's Fall Update With Redesigned Xbox Dashboard Is Now Available To All (engadget.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the fresh-coat-of-paint dept.

Microsoft has released the next big "Fall" update for the Xbox One, which focuses on speed and simplicity. Engadget reports: The first "Fluid Design" interface comes with a redesigned Home page, which is all about simplicity and customization. The top-level section has four shortcuts (your current game, two personalized suggestions, and a deal from the Microsoft store) and a horizontal carousel underneath. The biggest change, however, is the new "Content Blocks" that sit below this screen. Scroll down and you'll find a series of large, visual panels dedicated to games and friends. These are completely customizable and act like miniature hubs for your favorite titles and communities. The quick-access Guide has been tweaked for speed, with small, horizontal tabs that you can slide between with the Xbox controller's LB and RB bumpers, D-pad or left thumbstick. If you launch the Guide while you're streaming or part of an active party, you'll also see the corresponding broadcast and party tabs by default. Other Guide tweaks include a new Tournaments section in the Multiplayer tab, which will summarize any official, professional or community tournaments that you've entered. In addition, Microsoft has overhauled the Community tab with a modern, grid-based layout. It's also tweaked the idle and screen dimming features that kick in when you walk away from the console momentarily. Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson and Mike Ybarra, the Platform Engineer, have posted a walkthrough video on YouTube highlighting all the major new changes.

16 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. Good by thereitis · · Score: 1

    The current XBox One dashboard is a train wreck - a usability disaster. Let's hope they got this new one right.

    1. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      LOL, no... they took the last version and added more designers.

    2. Re:Good by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

      I'm looking forward to using mine as a toilet and sending their UX / UI teams lots of inspirational photos.

    3. Re:Good by Xest · · Score: 1

      They seem to change the dashboard at least twice a year and it's getting tiresome now. The one we had about 9 months ago was pretty good, then they replaced it with a turd that was a massive retrograde step because you have to now press like 5 buttons to do something like quit a game that previously took two. Hopefully if nothing else they've simply reverted to the previous one that worked and was fine.

    4. Re: Good by leonbev · · Score: 2

      Or, they took the last version and found a new way to add more new game advertising.

      If I ever meet "Major Nelson" in person, I'm going to punch him in the face!

    5. Re:Good by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 1

      MS is the absolute worst at UI / UX design. They don't understand their customers at all.

      --
      GCS/MU/P d- s:- a-- C++++$ UL++ P+ L++ E+ W++ N o K- w--- O M+ V- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5- X R++ tv+ b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h-
  2. Stuff that matters? by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    News for nerds indeed, but does it really matters?

  3. Xbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yawn

  4. more like the 'fail update' by vux984 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "The top-level section has four shortcuts (your current game, two personalized suggestions, and a deal from the Microsoft store)"

    So... one game and 3 ads. Thanks but no thanks, this is why i don't own an xbox.

    "The first "Fluid Design" interface comes with a redesigned Home page, which is all about simplicity and customization. "

    Ooo... customization! So, can I remove the useless top section that is 75% ads, and is wasting around 30% of the dashboard real-estate?

    Guessing not.

    1. Re:more like the 'fail update' by iampiti · · Score: 2

      Came to say exactly this.
      It seems in modern computing devices we must accept ads no matter what. They don't even have an ad free Windows 10 version (maybe the enterprise one?) even if you're willing to pay for it.
      I just want the control of my devices back (like it was until Windows 7)

  5. Re:Fall? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    It's spring here.

  6. Stop changing the user interface!!!!! by HalAtWork · · Score: 2

    This is what, the third time in 3 years? Stop it!!!

    The only change we need is to remove the ads on the user interface, and default to showing the list of games when you start the system. That's it!

    --
    Twinstiq, game news
  7. I can no longer Snap apps by TheCastro1689 · · Score: 1

    And that means I can't snap twitch and view it while I'm gaming and read comments. Pretty annoying. I'm also still mad that Netflix stopped using the Kinect.

  8. MS never learns by Zaphod+The+42nd · · Score: 1

    Its really funny watching MS repeat the same EXACT UI mistakes with every version of Xbox. They release an overly complicated interface that nobody likes, change it a lot, it gets bloated, and then they end up re-doing the whole thing from the ground up to be faster. Every time.

    --
    GCS/MU/P d- s:- a-- C++++$ UL++ P+ L++ E+ W++ N o K- w--- O M+ V- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5- X R++ tv+ b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h-
    1. Re:MS never learns by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      and then they end up re-doing the whole thing from the ground up to be faster. Every time.

      Except with more ads in prominent spots on the home screen. Sort of funny how that ends up as their top priority. Every time.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  9. Re:Am I the only one that remembers the 360 Blade by imidan · · Score: 1

    I bought a 360 well after launch, but before the ads got too obnoxious. Then the Xbox updated and we got video ads with sound. That evening, I reconfigured its DNS to a custom server that I set up to sabotage all requests for the MS ad servers. I was pretty happy with that. There were still some ads, but they were static and easy to ignore. If I couldn't have gotten rid of the video ads, I might well have gotten rid of mine, too.

    Anyway, I've never upgraded to the new generation, and the 360 has been in a box in the closet since I moved a year and a half ago. I've been thinking of buying a PS4 (pretty much to play The Last of Us and FFXII Zodiac). Maybe they'll get cheap for xmas...