As we mentioned on Monday, Microsoft released their Spring update for the Xbox 360 yesterday.  Microsoft has apparently been “saving up” for this release, as it encompasses over 125 changes to the console.  A fair number of the items are bug fixes, but there are plenty of functionality changes and upgrades as well. 

There are plenty of things to like in the update, but my personal favorites are the re-tooled Download Manager, the “Boot to Dashboard” feature, the upconversion of standard definition DVDs to 720p (provided you use the VGA connection), and the ability to disable sounds when browsing the Dashboard.  Not to be left out is something called Total USB Keyboard Support which hopefully provides the long awaited keyboard support in games.

Xbox 360 Spring Update Complete Features List

  * Download Manager: Marketplace items now download in the background, you can 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.
  * You can begin slideshows from any photo.
  * The music player saves “shuffle” setting.
  * The music player saves “repeat” setting.
  * The music player now displays which file is currently playing in the playlist.
  * The music volume level persists between game / reboots.
  * Eight new locales added (Chile, Brazil, India, South Africa, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia).
  * Separate settings are 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 are now allowed, displayed only to those on your friends list.
  * Added support to disable sound effects when navigating Dashboard.
  * Instantaneous “Change Theme” option has been added upon downloading new Dashboard Themes.
  * You can preserve the folder structure of source when viewing photos.
  * A / B labels now provided to identify memory units in Dashboard.
  * Online status is set to “Away” when screensaver becomes active.

DVD Player

  * Improved the audio/video sync after extended pauses.
  * Improved the visual quality.
  * The DVD player outputs at native resolution over VGA connection.
  * Improved the playback smoothness.
  * Improved the fast-forward and rewind smoothness.
  * DVD play continues to attempt to read a disc after “disc read” error.
  * DVD play àPauseàPlay jitter / out of synch issues improved.
  * DVD play àSlow Play àPlay 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 now pauses, instead of stopping, when games override user-selected background music.
  * Selecting an artist’s

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 added for 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 is 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.
  * Media library categorization enhanced.
  * Accelerated scrolling added for large music lists.
  * New “shuffle” icon added.
  * 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 are now 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 appear when Windows Live ID requires password change.
  * Unlocked Achievements are now displayed first in Game Summary page.
  * Selecting an Achievement now shows the specific Achievement details.
  * Updated messaging added for deleting arcade games purchased by different profiles.
  * System no longer launches music CD in disc-tray when moving from Live sign-up to Dashboard or Network Troubleshooter.
  * Voice quality improved when connected through wired gamepad.
  * “Last Played Game” selection in Xbox Live Arcade shown first before enumerating all games (when Arcade game was last game played).
  * Improved performance of picture enumeration from iPods formatted for Mac.
  * Latest updates adopted to Cero-based ratings for Family Settings.
  * Videos downloaded from Marketplace now shown in the Video area of the Media blade.
  * Improved usability added 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 added.
  * Testing Live connection while streaming music from PC now 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 added.
  * 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.
  * Gold membership information provided 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 added when deleting them.
  * System no longer turn off wireless gamepads after system update reboot.
  * More robust handling of initial setup experience for memory unit users added.
  * 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.
  * Visual location for where Xbox Live Arcade games reside now shown.
  * Improved user messaging added when overwriting content while copying.
  * Improved consistency of messaging between “sign out” and “switch profile.”
  * Updated troubleshooter text for connection to Windows PCs joined to domain.
  * Better support for Xbox 360 game disc recognition added.
  * Improved initial setup text messaging added.
  * Improved overall error message terminology added.
  * Game updates downloaded to memory unit no longer show “please reinsert” notification when memory unit removed.
  * More robust support added for handling game deletes from memory unit and simultaneously removing memory unit.
  * Improved system performance added between console and affiliated Windows Media Connect PC.

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