The Xbox is a video game console created by Microsoft. The system was released on November 15th, 2001 and was created to compete against Sony's Playstation2 and Nintendo's Gamecube. Unlike the ps2, the xbox had four controller ports on it so you could play four people split screen without the use of a multi-tap. It also had LAN support so you could link up eight xbox's, theoretically allowing 32 players in one game at any time. Anticipation of this gaming console was so much, it sold out almost instantly after it hit the shelves. As far as hardware is concerned, the processor was a 733MHZ core, 5X DVD drive, and a custom graphics processor. It was also the first console to have a hard drive built in every unit, which is a must in today's videogame world.

The xbox ended up being pretty successful during its short lifespan, with games like HALO and Project Gorham Racing, there was no shortage of good games to be played. Infact, Halo 2 ended up being the systems best selling game to date. Online console gaming was also pretty much invented by the xbox, (xbox live is the proper title) and has a huge lead on all the competing consoles internet services. With Live people were able to play with or against each other and allowed anyone to download content on to the hard drive, such as game demos and stats etc. Infact Live was so popular, there was over 250 000 subscribers signing up in the first two months along, it didn't take long before there was over two million subscribers! This is why Microsoft can charge about $50-$70 a year for their online service and still be profitable while Sony and Nintendo's online services are free.

The popularity of the Xbox inspired efforts to circumvent the built-in hardware and software security mechanisms, a practice informally known as modding. The Xbox BIOS was dumped a few months after release, and hacked so it would skip digital signature checks and media flags, allowing unsigned code, Xbox game backups, etc to be run. This is due to flaws in the Xbox's security. Modding an Xbox in any manner will void its warranty, as it may require disassembly of the console. Having a modified Xbox will also disallow it from accessing Xbox Live as it contravenes the Xbox Live terms of use, unless using a softmod with a multiboot and Shadow C configuration such as Ndure.

Beyond gaming, a modded Xbox can be used as a media center with the Xbox Media Center

There are also distributions of Linux developed specifically for the Xbox, including those based on Gentoo, Debian (see also Xebian), and Damn Small Linux. All of this above is known as soft modding an Xbox. Soft modding refers to things that are done to the technical part of the Xbox, such as adding files and programs to the hard drive, or adding some game exploits onto a special memory card. These are all Soft-Mods. Hard-Modding an Xbox refers to Modding anything else. Painting an Xbox refers to a Hard Mod. Chipping an Xbox does technically count as a hard mod due to the fact that it requires a good knowledge of a soldering gun and some good hand-eye coordination to solder it in. Using a dermal, a soldering gun, spray paint. Those are all tools of hard modding.

Hard-Mods are physical modifications to hardware such as soldering connections, or attaching a chip. Soft mods are mods that are done via software without physical modifications such as running a modified game or taking advantage of a bug or (exploit) in order to perform a function not intended by the creator such as running copied games or running unauthorized software (homebrew). Softmods can also be used to cheat or change the visuals for a particular game.