I’ve been trying out a few different programs for Windows which integrate with your Xbox Live account and allow you to access your friends list easily without having to go to the trouble of visiting xbox.com everytime. I’ve found the best program to be XBList, “a Windows program written in C# that can display your Xbox Live Friends List in a buddy-list format. It is designed to be simple and unobtrusive. It also has some integration with Xbox.com to display Gamer Tiles and Gamer Cards, and Bungie.net to display Halo 2 information and player emblems”. Make sure to read the setup instructions to find out how to sign in for the first time, but other than that, its a great, handy little program to have when you feel like being nosey or sending a few messages. It work on both XP and Vista. Screenshots below.