Anandtech has a detailed look at the Xbox 360. It’s amazing how many people are looking at the Xbox 360 in detail before the launch…lucky people!
With the Xbox 360, Microsoft gained some benefits of the original Xbox success. Xbox didn’t win the sales battle against Sony’s PlayStation 2, but the first Xbox was strong enough to cement Microsoft’s name in the world of console gaming manufacturers. For their second time around, there is less worry of the Xbox 360 being viewed as a just a PC, so Microsoft took a bolder approach.
Honestly, with the Xbox 360, Microsoft could have put forth another PC in a black box and it probably would have done fine. But with their second gaming console, the target was growth — and Sony. With an established name and fanbase, it was time to take the market seriously and start to exert some dominance and thus the Xbox went from being a clunky black box of a PC, to a stylish consumer electronics device.
The best part is that they start to take it apart and look deeper than most people do. I guess when you work for a big company Warranties don’t mean much.