ixtreme is meant for the undetectable function it supposedly has towards Xbox Live, OPA 2.3 was the latest firmware for hitachi when the Tutorial was made, I still use Birdy Flasher 2.2 for all old Hitachi drives, even though new firmware updates are made, xtreme 5.3 for MS-25-28 if the customer doesnt ask strictly for iXtreme firmware.. the later and newer the firmware is, the better disc recognition is has, as well as smoother reading, in most cases..
you can also just read the nfo's with each new firmware, latest updates etc :)
good luck, if you got a old hitachi drive yourself I reccomend birdy flasher 2.2, as its very easy to use, cause of its GUI and it doesnt require slow flashing through Command Prompt in Windows XP..
not necessary, all depends on what you want :) you want a chance of xbox live not noticing your xbox 360 is modified, thereby keeping your xbox 360 unbanned, you go for the latest iXtreme firmware :) I dont use XBox Live, so I dont care to use iXtreme ;)
