Next General Meeting:
Meeting Preview—Meeting Preview—Xbox One
Date: Tuesday, March 4th, 7 p.m.
Location: Danbury Hospital Auditorium
Directions

By Richard Corzo

DACS is going to try something new this month. We’ve never had a program on gaming consoles, but for our March meeting we’re going to hear about the Xbox One (http://www.xbox.com) from the folks at the Danbury Mall Microsoft Store. Most of us have played games on our computers and maybe on our new mobile devices. This should be interesting even for those who have never tried gaming on a console. Why are kids so addicted?

The Xbox One is Microsoft’s latest gaming console, meant to replace their previous very successful Xbox 360 console. We’ll get to see some of the games for the Xbox One, like the latest Call of Duty or maybe Zoo Tycoon. What makes the Xbox One more powerful than its predecessor? How well do the Kinect motion sensing and voice commands work?

The presenters will explain the different options: buying games on disc versus downloading from the Xbox One Game Store. We’ll hear about the Xbox Live Gold membership which is needed for multiplayer games and some other features.

We’ll also find out that the Xbox One is more than a gaming console. It’s also an entertainment center. It’s got a live TV integration feature and can control your cable or satellite box, your TV, and your home theater receiver. It runs apps such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, and even Skype using the included Kinect camera.

I have to admit this will all be a new experience for me, but it should be very entertaining and I can't think of a better opportunity to bring your kids or grandkids and introduce them to DACS.

At the end of the presentation we’ll hear about the end of Windows XP support and what that means for you and your old computer that may still be running XP. (One option is to install Linux instead. See the separate announcement about the March 15th XP to Unbutu Linux workshop on the website or in last month’s newsletter.)

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DACS meetings are usually held at the Danbury Hospital auditorium. (Click here for directions and parking information.)

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for registration and casual networking. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. with a question and answer period (Ask DACS), followed by announcements and a short break. The featured evening presentation begins at 8:00. The meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 9:30 p.m.

DACS General Meetings are free and open to the public. Members and prior attendees are encouraged to extend invitations to anyone interested in this topic.

Danbury Area Computer Society (DACS) is a registered nonprofit and has been serving the region since 1990.