it is a mix of windows media center+ xmb+ wii

Ariel_Wollinger

@outinthedark: Here's an interesting answer...

"You can still use them." [majornelson.com]

Smitty

I love when people start getting upset about how childish an avatar makes them look on to their other online video game buddies. That's like saying "the streamers on my big wheels makes me look like a little kid!"

People take themselves way too seriously. Just relax, MS has said you can still use your flaming death skull gamer icon if you want. And if they decide against that in the future it's really not the end of the world.

Ben Longo

Wait so your saying Microsoft didn't really do something original and just took hints off other interfaces? Nooooo wayyyyyyy....... *rolls eyes*

imTheKing

Apples's Front Row doesn't make you choose a ridiculous cartoon avatar to represent you or your activity. FAIL for adult gamers.

EBone

Here is an interesting question I hope someone at least thought to themselves like I just did...

"What about those who purchased themes?"

outinthedark

I want to see what it looks like after they slap a theme and some ads on it. I for one, welcome our interface overlords.

IndustrialJones

Lego Batman? I hope so!

o0adam0o

@singlecoilpickup: So you're saying that "Why does this work in Wal-mart" might not get to what their core market wants? Because I know I want my gaming experience to leave me feeling empty and abused.

Gann

I'd say it's much more the direct descendant of Aero on Vista, imagery wise. Notwithstanding whatever claims anyone wants to make about the latter's provenance.

icelight

To be fair though, I do think it's an improvement over their previous UI. But, I also think it doesn't cater to the core market of the 360.

singlecoilpickup

I'm not even gonna try.

pandasonic

I still think it looks like the red-headed stepchild of the Wii menu and the XMB.

singlecoilpickup

Oh God. Flame war in 3....2.....1...

jayhawk11

ROFL. Dull..just make you own theme.

CutePuppyz

what's the difference between a gamer pic and an avatar?
Really...before xbox... I don't remember any type of personalized gaming persona on any gaming system. Microsoft created it. Wii took the idea and instead of pics made avatars because of the custimization capabilities. It always...(at least to me) seemed like the next evolutionary step for microsoft was to create avatars...because there really wasn't much further they could take pics. I hope they take the next step and do product tie-ins with the avatar. Like releasing simpson avatars when a new simpsons game is release..etc. Like they do with the pics. That would be one way to appease the serious gamers as well...throwing popular characters from games and media into the mix.

dvda

I don't give a rat's ass about how pretty the UI is. Tee PS3's UI is beautiful, but not nearly as user friendly as the current 360 UI. If the new UI remains as user friendly AND is faster, I do welcome it.

robinandtami

Makes sense. Copy Apple as much as you can, get away with it and there's your R&D budget surplus. Makes lots of sense. ;-)

Ken_Darrow

Hrm...you would think by now that Microsoft would have learned by now (if not by 2000 at least) to make their software/UI slightly more extensible for these sorts of situations

silentmoo

@Ariel_Wollinger: Strange bedfellows, indeed.

@Gann: Yeah, maybe it even somehow exploits Chinese children working in slave-like factory conditions!

@Smitty: Yeah, you can probably put the flaming death skull on your Mii-60's cheesy t-shirt. (For a small fee in the 360 Marketplace)

singlecoilpickup

MS is still learning, good thing Apple is around to show them how to do things.

BiZarRroBALlmeR

Zune GUI + Apple Frontrow/TV = New Xbox Experience.

Nelson

@Smitty: Didn't see that thanks. Looks like the bg images are covered mostly by the new "blades".

outinthedark

@dvda:

"An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself or herself, whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games, a two-dimensional icon (picture) used on Internet forums and other communities, or a text construct found on early systems such as MUDs"

they're all avatars, regardless of naming convention.

nutbastard

@EBone: Neither does this! If someone doesn't like Avatars they can just ditch them and keep the GamerPic! They're optional!
As for the themes, they can still be used and will look pretty darn good! Check majornelson for more info!

henri1kk

@Nelson: actually its more like media center + zune + flip3d = new xbox.

jagowar

I'm not some sort of professional UI designer (I've read some books, taken some classes in HCI), but from the videos I've seen of the new interface, it's kind of a mess. For instance, when you're scrolling through the menus, you can see what's to come, but you can't see what you've already scrolled past. It might have been better to have something that was more like Apple's coverflow (where maybe the menus to the left and right of the focus were visible, but not as big?), as that's obviously a partial influence here. Also, while it's clearly a choice of style-over-function, there's a LOT of wasted space.

I love my Xbox (or "loved" i should say; it just red-ringed after a year and 3 months), but I'll be using the quick or mini GUI they showed off along side this announcement.

karmaghost

@EBone: Neither does this UI my friend. You can still use your old gamerpic if you so choose. Why dont you read a bit before you start making comments?

parad0x360

@singlecoilpickup: How do you figure? I consider myself a hardcore gamer. I got every system at launch aside from PS3 which i got a few months later. I own over 70 current gen games and countless past gen games.

I like the new dash. Its simple and functional. I dont need it to wow me, i need it to work and work well and thats what this new dash looks like it will do.

Yea im not giddy over avatars but im also not being forced to make one unless I want to. Not a big deal.

Simple, effective...works for me. Thanks MS.

parad0x360

@Ken_Darrow: Seriously? What, because there are reflections? Why don't you use Media Center (which has been around for how many years now?) and tell me this isn't the same thing, just dressed up a bit. I'd say the Zune/MC/Flip3D mashup is accurate.

@outinthedark: I do wonder about themes - if this new GUI is a total REPLACEMENT (not optional, either) then Microsoft is essentially disabling content for which people have paid. Of course, I'd have to assume that a company like Microsoft has to have already thought about the issue and has something up its sleeve.

@karmaghost: I would guess that the scrolling is just like Flip3D; that is, there is no need to see what is on the "left" because once a window is passed it is sent to the back of the line/stack, and will go in both directions. Pretty nice as long as you can see all of the windows at the same time - for example, if you limit the number of windows to six, you're never more than 3 scrolls away from any piece of content.

drewkkake

@drewkkake: This was one of the "solutions" I was thinking of after I saw the video, but it is unfortunately not how it's designed at the moment. Check it out here:
[www.gametrailers.com]

karmaghost

Don't you just love it when a company works hard to make something they're gonna give us for free? I mean, sure, the new interface could help move boxes off the shelves, but for those of us who already own 360's, this is gonna be one of the best freebies we've gotten in a while!

schrodingers_cat

I think it looks better than what they started with...good on them for sucking it up and admitting they needed to change something.

Did people who bought themes think they'd have them forever? I mean how long is a Halo 3 theme really going to look good on your dashboard?

At the end of the day it's a video game console and its such a minor thing really...as long as it actually makes content more accessible in fewer clicks that's all that matters...

pcypert

@outinthedark: Old themes are compatible, wallpapers work in the background.

Mark Wilson

I like the cover flow look. It will be interesting to see how the finished product turns out.

LenMan

@Mark Wilson: And on top of that, you can actually SEE the wallpapers that you got for free anyways. (If you paid for wallpapers, so help me god...)

Amsterdaam

Microsoft has had all the hard UI work done for them for free in XBMC. Why haven't they yet caught the fact that all the end-user testing has been completed for them?

pitpawten

Two words. Marketing Myopia.

Nighthawkz

Crikey, anybody would think it was illegal or immoral or both to learn and improve from what other people are doing. You can't criticize somebody for taking something someone else has done and improving it. That's progress folks, it's how we make things better...
I think MS have this one covered, the old GUI will still exist in some form for those who don't like change, themes and gamer pics (who buys these things anyway??) will still work. In short I can't see ANYTHING to complain about. MS are spending time and money to give us something new (and improved) for free so stop whining.

davidhayes

In real life its even better. Smooth as butter and beautiful. The Zune fitting into this is a natural.

skeptic11

I like it. No, I don't "love" it, but I do really like it. Lately I've been very disappointed in the current interface and wanting a new one. It's very cluttered and cramped in its current form, and I've been looking at it the same way for so long. The new style looks drastically more adjustable and more capable of expanding. It also looks like it can display information much, much better, with less weird scrolling windows and such. Reminds me a lot of the Zune, too, which I hope is a hint at further integration of the two concepts.

This also suggests we'll hopefully get a ton of other new functionality and improvements in the process. Since they have to rebuild the entire interface, maybe we'll get some improvements to things we've been holding out for for a long time. I'd like to see some better media support (maybe they'll update the Media Center Extender to support the same formats that the Media Server functionality does) and better organization of it, better on-screen keyboard (please at least add QWERTY as an option), and other little tweaks along those lines.

Looks like good news overall to me.

TurboFool

I see this UI as more closely resembling previous products such as Media Center, only with the addition of an Aero twist.

To be honest, at least from the pictures I've seen, I don't particularly care for the interface changes. It just feels much more formal and sterile than their previous work. Then again, I sort of enjoy a cluttered and colorful experience, so, eh. Can't please everyone, I suppose.

Hilo

agreed on the aero front..
is it just me or does this seem like it would just rearrange the user interface and update the icons while making every 360 user frustrated that everything is in a different place?

must be made by microsoft..

hxzero