Basically, Xbox Live Gold is the paid version of XBL, and it allows you to play multiplayer online and chat with friends. Xbox Live Silver is free once you hook up your 360 to the internet. It allows you to have friends, but does NOT let you play online or speak to people. Note: When you first connect your Xbox to the internet, you will get 1 month free of XBL Gold, but once that month is over, you're stuck with silver until you can fork out the cash to get Gold.