Microsoft is testing out the Xbox One’s March update with a few users in order to ensure nothing could possible go wrong when Titanfall launches. This update brings the Xbox One close enough to being a feature-complete console and leaves us with the hope that some much needed performance boosts will follow.

The Xbox One launched with a few things that were just plain missing from the console — not just promised features like Twitch.TV streaming, but basic functionality that didn’t carry over from the Xbox 360. From immature WiFi drivers to basic things like a readout for the battery level on the controllers, the Xbox One was pretty but ultimately felt incomplete. Microsoft has worked hard to fix a lot of these issues, with the March update being the last step towards making sure everything is in order when the game that Microsoft is hedging all of their bets on finally drops.

Xbox One WiFi before (left) and after (right) the March update

The most significant update when it comes to actual console functionality so far is the WiFi driver. When the Xbox One first launched, it seemed like there was some cosmetic discrepancies between how well the console worked over its predecessor. This made sense, given how long the Xbox 360 had been around and how thoroughly developed all of the drivers for it had become over time.

The March Update Beta demonstrates that the Xbox One WiFi drivers at launch weren’t even close to being as good as they could be. Not only was the console unable to accurately read SSIDs with unicode, but it showed significantly weaker connections to every network. Now that the update is here, you can see in the compare image that 5Ghz networks especially are significantly stronger. The entire WiFi system is greatly improved, which will be better for everyone.

The other big part of the update — the part that Microsoft is promoting hard right now — is a whole new multiplayer communication system. Right now the Xbox One chat system is a little confusing at first, because the party chat for the OS isn’t a part of the party system for whatever game you might be playing. It’s perfectly functional as long as you know exactly what you’re getting into, but if you’re trying to form a party to play a game it’s easy to get lost and wind up having half of your party not join a match.

The new system places a focus on your friends list, giving you faster access to your closest friends. You also have faster access to people you have recently played with, so you can add them much easier if you choose to. All of this centers around the chat system, which now lets you talk to people playing different games and now turns on party chat by default when you join a party. The whole setup feels more intuitive, and it’s clear Microsoft is paying attention to their users.

Ultimately this update feels like what the Xbox One should have been when it launched. The Xbox forums are filled with some odd bugs associated with the beta update, but the whole point of this beta is to sort out those kinds of things before March 11. As long as Microsoft can deliver alongside the Titanfall launch, the Xbox One will be in a fantastic position moving forward.

Source : http://www.geek.com/games/xbox-one-march-update-preview-shows-dramatically-improved-drivers-and-multiplayer-1586315/