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While the unfortunate "Red Ring of Death" system failure seems to continue to plague the Xbox 360, at the very least, Microsoft has managed to streamline their fix-it process.

According to Xbox Evolved, who recently lost their debug unit to this failure, Microsoft has quickened the process of getting a replacement machine. Now, MS Support gives you 3-5 business days to receive your shipping box, which is in stark contrast to the 5-10 business days it took earlier this year. Furthermore, they've worked to provide you with some detailed feedback you would've never seen before. For example, they'll give you an expected time frame of when you might see your system again, and they'll admit if they have to replace the unit. Heck, Xbox Evolved says they'll even "mention that if there is any 'special markings' on the outside of your Xbox 360 to protect it with a cover."

This whole process used to take 3-4 weeks - ask anyone who has done it before - but now it should only take about 8-10 business days total. We're hoping the "RRoD" will eventually disappear entirely, but if it doesn't, at least Microsoft has made this replacement process a lot less time-consuming.