Xbox 360 Gets Its Own Xbox One-Style Preview Program for Updates

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Apparently pleased with the results of its preview program for system updates on Xbox One that launched last year, Microsoft has announced plans to introduce a similar program on Xbox 360.
Beginning sometime early this month, select Xbox 360 owners will be invited to sign up for the Xbox 360 Preview Program. There's no indication of what you can do to improve your chances of being invited, nor is there any explanation for how members are chosen. You'll simply need to be on the lookout for a special Xbox Live message indicating that you've been selected, according to Microsoft's Major Nelson.
Should you want to then enroll--granting yourself early access to beta versions of system updates--you'll then head to the Your Memberships page of the Account Management section in the system's settings. If you've been selected, Xbox 360 Preview Registration will be listed there (as pictured above), and you'll be able to enroll your console by selecting it.
You won't immediately start downloading beta updates; those will come later, with testers being notified by Xbox Live message when they're ready for download.


The first planned update isn't an especially exciting one--it'll deal with "common customer issues including improving the ability to troubleshoot common network issues from the 360" and add "a Network Connectivity test including Download and Upload speed tests." Later this year, "even more changes" are on the way, but there's no word on what those might include.
Xbox One preview members have gotten early access to updates that ranged from the mundane to anticipated new features like screenshots.


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