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I finally took the plunge a few weeks back and bought an Xbox360. I had been holding out for a long time because of the supposed 30% failure rate on microchips that allegedly caused Red Ring Of Death (RROD). I’m not so much of a bleeding-edger when $400 nets me nothing but a giant paperweight. But like some ubergeek version of the Folgers Challenge, Microsoft recently flipped out bunk chips with more reliable versions. My chances of system brick marginalized, I dropped some bills for the “grown-up system” that inexplicably packs-in Kung-Fu Panda.

The 360’s old so-called Blade UI was never a selling point for me, and in fact I felt the whole UI was rather clunky and Microsoft-like. Overlapping functionality and garish design work were the upsides. The New Xbox Experience (NXE) promised to eliminate problems, add functionality, and cook dinner on Tuesdays. So obviously, its launch dovetailed nicely for me.

The biggest fear most Live users had was that their system was being taken over by the needs of casual gamers. This is due mostly to Avatars, an obvious nod to Wii’s Miis. I have to admit I understand the fear, because Avatars turn out to be a fairly useless dress-up doll reminder of who’s signed into Live. However, this serves as the most emblematic example of Microsoft positioning NXE as a “middle ground” between Nintendo Miis and Sony’s Second Life-style Home. Miis drop a Virtual You in every freaking game, and Sony’s vaporware requires Virtual You to walk around your Virtual Neighborhood just to watch a video, making out-of-the-way Avatars feel fairly benign.

The new layout is simple yet effective, in my opinion. Constantly updated content gives you a look at new offerings, in what is essentially a vertical-scroll version of Sony’s Cross Media Bar (XMB). Again, MS took the best ideas by the competition and assimilated them in a way that feels fresher and far quicker to navigate than the previous style. The NXE’s Live also added small touches like Friend Parties and Friend Updates, which become slightly annoying at times despite good intentions. Friends now live in a long scrolling line with background graphics, though the List View lives on too.

But the biggest coup by far is building Netflix directly into the system. Ah, Netflix: The one feature that helped my wife tolerate this gigantic, expensive, jet-engine decibel-spewing monstrosity into her living room (well, that and sharing photos via Connect360). We’ve watched more Instant Queue flicks in three weeks than 3 months of physical DVD usage. I will say this feature alone has sold me on the Gold Membership upgrade.

So really, there may not be a truckload of new ideas happening in the NXE, but they already had the best online experience and biggest game library. Cherry-picking the best of the competition’s UI is a hallmark of Microsoft, and in this case only helps improve the overall package.