Microsoft Rolls out Xbox 360 Spring Update

The long awaited Xbox 360 Spring update went live earlier this morning. Plenty of new features and improvements went into this update. Finally being addressed are Achievement notifications, as well as a full-fledged messenger program.

Full details below:

• A richer Achievement notification pop-up will showcase the name of the unlocked Achievement and the gamerscore value without needing to leave the game to check the Achievements list.
• Enhanced family settings features for Xbox Live communications enable different defaults for video chat and voice chat.
• A new Xbox Live Marketplace blade lets Xbox Live members access the content they seek-whether it is game content or TV shows and movies (available in the United States)-from one place on Xbox Live.
• Updates to Xbox Live Arcade allow owners to quickly see which games their friends are playing and join in the fun. Members can also compare progress of leaderboard scores and Achievements directly with all friends on their friends list. Expanded “Tell a Friend” capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.
• Expanded “Tell a Friend” capabilities make it easier than ever to boast about Achievements and high scores.
• A new option in Auto Downloads provides faster access to the entire collection of free, trial-version arcade games.
• New progressive download controls provide easy access to optimal viewing options by letting people fast-forward, rewind, pause and resume as their video is downloaded from Marketplace.
• Extension of the background download functionality will allow owners to set their Xbox 360 console to turn off automatically after downloads are complete.

Some substantial upgrades and general changes. The Xbox 360 and Xbox Live continues to improve, and we couldn’t be happier.