Good news for anyone who's ever got mind-numbingly bored downloading from Xbox Live; the next system update will feature something called 'Active Download', which will let you download files from the Marketplace whilst playing games, watching DVDs or even building a small fort out of empty cereal boxes.
This is all according to a Microsoft Knowledge Base article, which details 'Active Download' along with several other features originally due for an update last Tuesday. Alongside the download feature - which according the Knowledge Base entry allows you to "stream music, play DVDs or CDs, play arcade titles, and play games while you download an item from the marketplace" - dashboard and DVD playback tweals are also detailed.
Apperantly you will soon have the option to boot directly to the dashboard without booting a game or DVD disc, which we're sure will please the legions of fans campaigning for the option. The ability to resume downloads is also talked of, along with some sort of update for the console's DVD playback.
The penned date for the update has obviously passed and Microsoft has since pulled the Knowledge Base article, but we think it'd be safe to assume the detailed updates will be streaming down our broadband pipes eventually. We'll let you know when Microsoft presses its big red button.