Microsoft launches new Xbox Live Dashboard

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A number of key upgrades to the Xbox Live service have been rolled out in the past few days as part of a low-key automatic update to the Xbox Dashboard system.

Originally promised some months ago, the upgrade - being referred to as Xbox Live 2.0 - offers significant Live functionality right on the Dashboard, with the ability to view your buddy list, see what games people are playing and even launch voice chats without being in a game.

The system is also thought to have plenty of new functionality "under the bonnet" which will eventually enable tighter integration between Xbox Live services and the web. The "silent upgrade" system is also interesting in itself - although this isn't the first time that the Xbox has been upgraded online, it's the first really major update to happen over the service, and as a proof of concept for seamless console software updates online, it seems to have worked excellently.

Source: El Reg (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/32850.html)

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An anonymous reader writes "According to The Inquirer, Microsoft has used their Xbox Live Vole System to patch any Xboxes that access it....without asking their permission before installing the software. However, in this occurrence, the bug appears to be the 'dashboard bug' that allows Linux to be easily installed on an Xbox. Further, according to The Xbox Linux Project, users who do not have an Xbox Live account may find themselves being patched without permission as well. If a gamer tries to access any part of a game that uses Xbox Live, the console can 'phone home' and install the patches anyway. While patching bugs can be a nice touch to poor software, I don't know if I feel comfortable with ANYONE installing software on my hardware without asking permission first."

Source: SlashDot (http://games.slashdot.org/games/03/09/16/0310224.shtml?tid=106&tid=109&tid=137&tid=185&tid= 187)