So, we finally got our greasy hands on the Halloween dash update this morning. Unfortunately, our LCD TV here at Fanboy Towers doesn't support 1080p, so we are currently unable to utilize it. We can confirm that the resolution is selectable, though. Marketplace is, um, different, but we're not sure we'd call it an improvement just yet. We have to admit, the images on the buttons are pretty slick. Live Arcade, on the other hand, has definitely improved. The list populates instantly, so you don't have to wait for your game of choice to pop up. You can now also sort your games by category, alphabetically, or by most recently played.In the end though, the real meat of the update -- in our eyes anyway -- is streaming video from XP. We spotted this feature in Media Player 11 last month and lamented that it didn't work. We're happy to say that it does now. All you have to do is set up media sharing in WMP 11 and you're done, instant video streaming. You know all those hi def trailers that look like crap on your little monitor? Well, now you can watch them on your HDTV. We can also confirm that you cannot stream video from an iPod, at least not the tiny videos that are formatted for the device -- and really, why would you want to anyway? We're pretty sure the Zune will work just fine, though. The video marketplace feature that has been bandied about the rumor mill is there as well. It is, however, not as exciting as many thought it would be. It isn't a video store or anything; it's just the video section of Marketplace.
All in all, it's pretty good stuff. So now that the update is here, are you satisfied? What features would you like to see implemented in the next update?
Reader Thomas Meyer applies simple logic to Major Nelson's latest podcast and deduces that the Fall Dashboard Update should be out by next Tuesday:
