Popular lifestreaming service FriendFeed launched a new version today, and boy does it feel familiar.

FriendFeed launched their new beta version today at beta.friendfeed.com, and while we love the new color scheme (the old one was almost too white), the resemblance to the Twitter layout is striking.  Using the two-column setup has long been a standard in Web design, but it almost feels like this is too close for comfort to the look and feel of the popular microblogging service.

As you can see from the below images, this is so radically different from the original version of the service that it almost feels like a completel different service.

And the new version:

While the old version did also utilize a two-column feel, flipping it to the other side, boxing in the controls and adding an avatar next to all activity really did change the feel of the system.  This isn’t to say it’s a bad thing, quite the contrary.  I have belonged to FriendFeed since almost the day it launched, but I have not been a heavy user of the service because it always felt a little too jumbled and difficult to follow who was saying what.  This is a much cleaner user interface, and one that feels like it will be far easier to follow the conversations.

Continuing the Twitter like inspiration, that have also made it far easier for you to post an update to what you are doing with a box at the top of the page that can also be crossposted to your Twitter account.  They have also added the ability to send direct messages to other users, another favorite feature of Twitter users.

Overall we like the new look and feel of the service, but it certainly isn’t breaking any fresh ground.