Gone are the days when emails used to be the first thing that we checked every morning, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace have successfully taken precedence over emailing and statistics confirm that people spend an average of 500 billion minutes per month on Facebook.

Socializing, sharing updates, photos and links have become an integral part of businesses and Microsoft understanding this concept has decided to integrate Facebook and Live Messenger to its Outlook Social Connector.

On Tuesday Microsoft announced that Outlook users will now be able to view their social network while working on their emails allowing them to stay connected with friends, family and colleagues at all times. The latest version lets users to view status updates, wall posts and photos without having to exit their emails.

Microsoft confirmed release of a new version of Outlook Social Connector that provides real-time updates from Facebook that will appear in a box called "People Pane". Although Paco Contreras (Microsoft Group Product Manager) confirmed Mashable of one limitation that Facebook integration has which does not allow users to update their Facebook profile, Outlook can only pull data and does not allow users to "Like" posts or leave comments. However, accepting or ignoring friend request will be possible.

Privacy issues have become a part and parcel of social networking sites, therefore Microsoft ensured that they remain safe from the very start by announcing that " We built the Outlook Social Connector with privacy and security in mind. The information people share is a personal choice, so it's up to you to determine what you share, and with whom."

LinkedIn and Myspace functionality was introduced in Outlook last winter, and it has not taken too long to bring in Facebook and Windows Live to their Social Connector; we wonder how long will it take for Twitter to a part of emailing as well.

Outlook 2003 and 2007 users can download the latest version here, and 2010 users will get an update through their Social Connector.

While this integration of social networking sites with Outlook may seem like a boon to a lot of people specially to those who are not allowed to use these sites from office; I am sure the bosses have another issue to worry about now.