My 2 penneth for what it's worth, regarding the design (I'm easily pleased) I don't really give a monkeys what it looks like, it's how it functions as a games console that matters, how smooth and responsive games play, how laggy it is and of course how much.
I'm a bit gutted it's not backwards compatible as I and a large portion of my friends still play games from 2006 even to this day so I would have to keep my 360 under my TV which I don't have spare space for at the minute.
For me this new Xbox 1 is long overdue, us console gamers needed something new to sink our teeth into and thankfully it's on it's way. I won't be buying one on release day, I will hang fire for a few months and see what the reviews are like, and how well it copes with getting rid of the heat, remember the red ring of death
.
Re: the controller, I'm one of a select few who actually prefer the PS3 layout over the 360 but that's just a personal taste issue. I still find comms and online multiplayer via xbox far superior to the PS3 and a few exclusives wont be enough to tempt me to buy a PS4 unfortunately.
Ive just modded my 360 controller to use the domed (convex not concave) thumb sticks like the ps3's and I get a loss less thumb fatigue and improved grip when playing FPS games, looks like the thumb sticks are slightly improved on the new xbox 1 controller which is welcomed but time will tell if they are an improvement or not. The kinect I have to say looks pretty bulky imo so not quite sure If I'd want that located on top of my TV but it's no real biggy.
Overall it gets my thumbs up