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On the 19th of November Microsoft released its much anticipated fall update for the Xbox 360. And as is with all change there was both joy and confusion because of it.

The entire look of the system was redone in a way that eireilly reminds you of an Apple design. With the layout changes also came

• Netflix instantly streaming in HD: ok, this is great. Only one problem, nobody thought Sony wouldn't like their films on the 360, so we still cant watch all of the streaming capable movies.
• Xbox LIVE Party: now all your buddies can join you as you hop from game to game, I actually like this idea.
• All new avatars: Please don't call them Mii's.
• On-demand entertainment: Yeah, we've had this on the 360 for a few years now...
• Games for the community, by the community: Allowing XNA Studio game creators a much wider audience and bolster the indie developer much like in the early days of the PC.
• Install your games to the hard drive: Sweet Jesus, that's a long time coming. The PC has only been doing that for about 25 years (and the PS3 for the last year). But as someone who's previous 360 had a dvd drive fail I'll take anything that makes the machine work less.

The way these pros and cons add up I like it, though it certainly isn't without its flaws.

Here's a tip - don't try playing Halo 3 off of the hard drive, just don't.