"At the Game Developers Conference Europe 2005, Microsoft delivered an interesting lecture on Xbox 360 development, revealing some new info on the The Guide, Xbox Live, and other features that debut with the Xbox 360. Andre Vrignaud, Director of Technical Strategy for Xbox Live, explained attendants many new features that Microsoft has developed to make things easier for game developers. Here is a rundown:

The Guide

Vrignaud explained how the new Xbox 360 Guide liberates game developers from writing a lot of code since it is an always-running application that handles configuration and device management and common system tasks such as Xbox Live log-in, log-out, alerts, Friend’s List, game invitations, plus game saves, controller disconnection, music playback, and error messages.

In addition to that, the Guide also handles all the new features, such as gamer profiles, game achievements, and the Xbox Live marketplace among others." [more]