XBList

[Wobbly Goblin]

This is a pretty cool little program that runs in your tray and monitors your buddies list. I've been using it off-and-on for about a year. What I like best is it plays a little sound when you receive a personal message.
http://brh.numbera.com/software/xblist/

Features

• Constantly updates to show which friends are playing what games.
• Displays Xbox Live Gamer Pictures, Halo 3 emblems, and Halo 2 emblems.
• Popup notifications when friends sign on and off, as well as on other events.
• Displays an alert whenever you have new Xbox Live messages.
• When you hover over a Gamer Tag, it shows their Gamer Card, with extra info about when they last signed on and what they're playing. It will also show their Halo emblem if they don't have a Gamer Picture or you prefer Halo Emblems.
• Easily access your friends' Xbox.com profiles, Halo 3 or 2 stats, and compose messages.
• Manage your Friends List right from the Windows desktop - add and remove friends, and accept/reject friend invites.
• Works with the Xbox360 - Shows extra game info in Gamer Card popup, and uses a different icon for Xbox360 games.
• Shows friends that can be joined on Xbox Live in blue.
• Shows friend requests.

[CyberKnight]

What kind of bugs me about this is, you used to be able to get the same out of MSN Messenger by using the Alerts feature. You could get an Alert whenever someone sent you a message to your Live account. Then they quietly discontinued that service.

I've been hoping they'd have what XBList does integrated into MSN Messenger by now...