Announced triumphantly at the beginning of this year, the software upgrade for the Xbox 360 console is finally here and apparently it doesn’t disappoint the fans.

The most touted feature of the recent upgrade is the integration of Windows Live Messenger (formerly known as MSN Messenger) into Xbox 360’s blade dashboard. Now, Xbox owners can easily hook up with online friends situated in front of their PCs and even with those chatting from their mobile phones.

But that is not all: the Xbox 360 version of Live Messenger allows for real-time observation of friends’ online activities (from the simple dashboard browsing to the regular activities of any console owner-gaming that is, doh….) and includes options for text, video or voice conversations.

Live Messenger for Xbox 360 manifests as a "Chat and IM" option under "Friends" on your console's XBL tab or "blade." When either Messenger or XBL contacts are online, they're now tallied together under Friends.

However, not all is perfect: in order to add friends while using the Xbox 360 interface you actually have to be added by one of your PC friends (and not the other way around) and you are also unable of seeing who’s online and who’s not before clicking on “New Message”. Hopefully, someone will notice these blemishes and will start fixing them.

Of course, for a smooth, PC-like experience in chatting you’ll need a USB keyboard attached to the Xbox 360 or you can simply wait for the prototype controller-keyboard that has been previewed last month, due to arrive sometime this summer.

The rest of the features refer to an improved functionality of the dashboard, which is now offering a small preview of the game you are currently playing, and when you highlight it, the feature box will show you your gamerscore and achievements for that game. For the Arcade blade of the Dashboard there is a new option that lets you see what friends are logged in the XBLA and what games they are currently playing.

A Marketplace blade has also been added, with the ability to fast-forward, pause, and rewind video as it's being downloaded from it. One of the most useful features though is the one that lets owners “program” their Xbox 360 to shut down after finishing a particular download.