Quick thoughts on this fall’s Dashboard update for the Xbox 360:

• Facebook on Xbox is not great. At least for me. The panels in the News Feed don’t slide across smoothly and is very jarring. I’m disappointed.
• Last.fm on the other hand turned out to more enjoyable than I thought, but just makes me want Spotify on the Xbox more than ever.
• I’d like to see the Last.fm app listed as an option under My Xbox > Music, rather than be hidden under the new Music Marketplace. Right now it makes no sense.
• Spinning out music games’ DLC into the Music Marketplace is stupid. Heck, said Marketplace shouldn’t even be there since it doesn’t sell actual music.
• Zune video integration is a good move on paper, but badly implemented. It launches as a separate application — it’s basically an app disguised as a game as far as the Xbox is concerned — so it takes longer to load than the old Video Marketplace.
• Zune replaces the old Downloaded Videos entry under My Xbox > Videos as well, so again I have to wait for the app to launch just to watch a game trailer. Unnecessary.
• Twitter — while the least useful new addition for me — is probably the best implemented. Unlike Facebook, Last.fm and Zune, it seems to be integrated into the Dashboard itself, so there’s no loading time required.

Right now, these new apps — with the exception of Twitter — feel like bolt–ons. Here’s the thing: if they weren’t bolt–ons I would never have to “exit to the Dashboard” when I’m done. Microsoft’s got the UI nailed, but not the feeling. They just don’t feel like they’re integral parts of the New Xbox Experience.