I should get this up

(That's what she said...)

Anyway, I figured I should write this before it was too late. Talking about the new dashboard for the 360 after everyone has is, that's just lame. So here are my first and lasting impressions:

• Cool intro video
• Glad to see that the opening section of "panels" (what are we ever calling those?) can be taken away
• Everything seems a little to "marketingy". What I mean is that a lot of it just seems like more advertisements.
• Avatars aren't awful, so if you had a problem with them you may now shut up.
• Installing games to the hard drive is awesome! I'm not sure how it helps the loads times because I installed The Force Unleashed before ever playing it off disc. So I don't know if it's any fast, but the 360 is quieter! Done. Done deal.
• An idea (that I am doing) for people who want to install games to the hard drive but only have a 20GB hard drive. Save just the game you are currently playing, or the one you frequently go back to. As I don't go back to many games as I get new ones almost weekly so I save my current game so that each time I get a new game, they run faster and quieter for me. And of course, the old one gets taken off to provide room for the new one.
  
• I'm not a fan of the lay out of the Guide after you hit the guide button. I just find it bland and plain.
• Friends list is cool - even though all my friends have blank Grey avatars - but I think it needs a better indicator if that person is actually online. It took me a while to realize that if they have a little rectangle with either a game or a 360 icon beside the avatars' feet then they're online.
• I haven't had a use for the Quick Launch yet, but I can't see it being to relevant unless I need to get into an arcade game from my disc game (or vice versa) really fast - which is something that doesn't happen often.

Now for some stuff I'm looking forward to doing once anyone on my friends list gets the update:

• Party chats, though I can't see myself making a party chat just to chat. And if I'm making a party chat to talk in game, I can just use the in game chat. Though I still would like to try this.
• Uno Rush! Should be out soon! (Has nothing to do with the dashboard update)
• Seeing my friends' avatars, hoping there can be something to do with them.