Next-gen user experience
If one thing about the Xbox 360 has impressed me more than anything, it’s the way the team completely nailed the User Experience.
Chris posted one example of what I mean.
Here are some other details. Some big, some small, but all important to the experience.
- Insanely simple set-up of the console. I hate to say it, but it actually reminded me of when I saw someone set up a new iMac.
- Insanely simple set-up of Xbox Live. Apparently this depends on whether your account is already tied with a Passport account. Mine was. All I had to do was enter my Passport address and password, and I was good to go. Awesome.
- Wireless Controllers. This includes the excellent “Ring Of Light” system for telling which controller is connected to which “port.”
- You can turn on the console on and off from the controller. Or from my Media Center remote. Or from my Logitech “Harmony” universal remote.
- You can download trials for games, including a trial for every Live Arcade game .
- The simple SDTV/HDTV switch which solves umpteen hundred compatibility issues in a stupid simple way.
- Super slick connectivity with Windows XP computers or Media Center systems.
- A “common file dialog” when you need to save a game – so ALL games save to the HDD or memory unit through the same familiar mechanism, which shows up as a “blade” that slides out the side of the screen.
- A common text-entry interface that all games use.
- Xbox Live Arcade. It’s just amazing.
And those are just what I can think of off the top of my head. As I first used the system I just kept thinking to myself, “They get it. They really, truly get it.”
I’ll write more about the games themselves later on. For now I’ll just tell you that, as my gamercard reports, most of my time is being spent in Kameo and Geometry Wars. Do not underestimate its addictiveness!
Xbox 360
I might not have mentioned it, but the fruits of my exploits were:
Xbox 360 (the so-called “premium” system)
3 additional wireless controllers
4 rechargeable batteries
2 Play & Charge kits
Project Gotham Racing 3
Kameo
Perfect Dark Zero
I also picked up Call of Duty 2 and Condemned.
I was number 133rd in line and waited a total of about 15 hours. I met some great people (several other Microsofties included) and had a generally favorable experience despite the deep cold that comes from that long in sub-40 degree weather.
New Blog!
My new blog site is now live! (much pun intended)
I’ll be tweaking things for a while so if it looks different tomorrow or the next day don’t be shocked. But go ahead and subscribe to the new RSS feed, since the old one is officially obsolete.
How do you move a blog?
So how does one go about moving a blog?
I’ve come up with the following list of issues:
- What to do about posts. Should they be moved? Just left alone?
- How do I get my readers to the new site… leave a note?
- How long will it take for the search engines to notice my new site?
- Will I lose readers?
Why do I ask? Yes it’s true… I’m moving!
First, I want to give a big thanks to Jeff Julian and anyone else that has helped maintain GeeksWithBlogs for as long as it’s been home to my blog 🙂
But lately I’ve felt that I need more control over my host. And so I’m moving to a new site.
It’s not ready yet. But the new site will be www.brandonlive.com – I’ll make another post as soon as it’s ready.
Tonight marks the official launch of the Xbox 360 video game system from Microsoft. If you were planning to come stand in line at the Bellevue, Wa Best Buy store, I hope you’re already here. The current count seems to be over 250+ people waiting in line, a few of which have been here since Saturday or earlier.
I was planning to arrive late this afternoon, but when a friend tipped me off to an 80+ person line at 8AM this morning, I decided to change my plans.
I have to say that the Best Buy management has been extremely accomodating. Initially there was a lot of fear about line jumpers and people holding spots for their friends. After several conversations with the staff and management (including some representation from Best Buy headquarters in Minnesota), we convinced them to take action to ensure the fairness of the line for those of us waiting 12+ hours in the cold.
A bout a half hour ago they handed out cards (including counterfeit proof ink!) with numbers indicating your place in line. They don’t guarantee a unit for each card, but they won’t let anyone get one who doesn’t have one of these cards. They’ve also been very proactive about maintaing the organization of the line. Now, it’s not perfect. They clearly hadn’t planned ahead for the crowd that they got. But their willingness to expend effort and time to address our concerns is very encouraging.
I stand at the 133rd spot in line, with a very high level of confidence that I’ll get what I came for. The rumors are that about 200 total units will be sold at midnight (including some 30 or 40 “core” systems). And though there have been mumblings about both a shortage and a last-minute special delivery from Microsoft… most below the 150 mark are fairly comfortable at this point.
Cold… but comfortable.
What makes Live.com special?
I’ve been using Live.com as my homepage since it was released. But truthfully, I don’t see my homepage that much since I pretty much always have Maxthon running and I have it set to resume a session if I close an re-open it.
But today I was pointed to an insanely cool Gadget for Live.com over at http://microsoftgadgets.com/ and I was just astounded at what kinds of awesome plugins people are making for the site!
And what’s even better? I installed the “Xbox Live Gamercard” gadget (and watch enviously as someone named “Sully” plays Xbox 360 games). While that gadget is pretty awesome in of itself, the next best part is that the author updated the gadget and I got the update without doing a damn thing. That’s the beauty of the internet, eh?
I completely cannot wait until Gadgets are available on the desktop (and yes, I know about Konfabulator and have used DesktopX in the past. But I really think MS Gadgets are going to be big).
Oh, and they’ve smoothed over the process of adding a gadget from the gallery to your Live.com page. No more cutting and pasting! Hooray!
New version of Windows Desktop Search!
Well, sort of 🙂
Tonight we’ve officially launched the Enterprise editions of Windows Desktop Search and the MSN Search Toolbar. Unlike the current consumer release, there are 2 seperate installs (one for WDS, one for MSN Toolbar). Unfortunately, the consumer version won’t be updated right away. But we’re working hard to deliver a new version for consumers that will upgrade the current “MSN Search Toolbar with WDS” package. That way everyone can enjoy the latest and greatest we have to offer 🙂
So what’s new in the Enterprise release of WDS?
1) First and foremost, this new version has been enabled for management via Group Policy and deployment via SMS.
2) A lot of work was done to make sure that WDS meets the needs of IT administrators at even the largest of companies.
3) WDS now features light-weight integration with Intranet search services (like SharePoint, or a Google appliance).
4) This version of WDS can replace the “Search Companion” functionality on Windows XP, and provides UI for advanced search queries.
5) Lots of bug fixes and improvements all around.
What’s new in the Enterprise release of the MSN Search Toolbar?
1) The Toolbar is now group-policy enabled just like WDS.
2) It also features light-weight Intranet search integration.
3) An enhanced Outlook bar provides optional integration of search results into the Outlook 2003 window if WDS is installed.
4) Numerous enhancements to tabbed browsing and other functionality.
Both the WDS and MSN Toolbar teams have worked very hard to bring out this release.
There’s a CNET article here and one on Yahoo News here.
Product details here.
FolderShare is free!
Following Microsoft’s recent acquisition of FolderShare, the product is now completely free! Check it out at www.foldershare.com.
What is FolderShare? It’s a great app that you install on all of your computers and it lets you access all your files via the web! You can even sync between multiple PCs.
Better yet, if you install Windows Desktop Search on your PC with it, FolderShare will let you search your computers remotely! Definitely a kick-ass feature, I think 🙂
Microsoft to remove Sony’s DRM rootkit
I was very happy to see this post by the Microsoft Anti-Malware Engineering team.
If you don’t know what this is about, here’s a quick summary. Sony BMG recently began selling about 20 different music albums in the US with what basically amounts to a computer virus on them. The software comes in 3 parts:
1) A “rootkit” that affects your Windows installation at the kernel level. It rewrites the System Service Table and replaces certain kernel function calls with calls to a device driver that Sony installs.
2) A couple of poorly written device drivers that sit at both ends between your IDE controller and your CD drive.
3) Some “anti-piracy” software that’s supposed to prevent you from making copies of your CDs.
What’s worse, most attempts to manually remove the software can render your system unusable, or cause your system to lose access to its CD drive.
Because the “rootkit“ hides files or directories with a $sys$ prefix in the name, several viruses have already started taking advantage of Sony’s malware. Also, there are reports that malicious exploits against the online game World of Warcraft that use Sony’s software have started to show up.
Mark Russonivich of SysInternals discovered the infection a couple weeks ago. Since then the tech news media have been covering the story. Apparently several lawsuits have been filed against Sony related to this matter.
The good news? Microsoft’s Anti-Spyware (soon to be called “Windows Defender” – sounds like an 80s arcade game to me) will remove the scourge. And so will the Windows Live Safety Center and the Malicious Software Removal Tool that ships on Windows Update every month or so.
Now this is how you wow gamers:
Xbox.com: Will there be any benefits to playing original Xbox games on my Xbox 360 console?
Todd: Absolutely. One of the great things about gaming on Xbox 360 is the satisfaction of knowing that every game will be playable in high definition. We are now proud to reveal that this extends to the original Xbox games as well. Every original Xbox game will be upscaled to 720p and 1080i, and will take advantage of Xbox 360’s anti-aliasing capabilities, delivering a picture that is clearer and crisper than anything available on Xbox.
Read the full FAQ here or just jump to the list.
Also, the list of 200+ games is a list of what works now. But many more games will be added via software updates available through Xbox Live (and will be free to all X360 owners). They’ll also be distributed through other means (magazines, downloadable from Xbox.com) for users that don’t hook up their X360 to the internet.