We’ve received word that Facebook has released its much anticipated chat/IM application to a few unspecified networks. The “pre-launch beta”, as Facebook is calling it, started sometime last night.

InsideFacebook has some screenshots and a summary of their first impressions. If you’re part of a network that has been given access already, please let us know in the comments. It appears to be little changed from the demo video we published earlier.

The only thing new that we’ve learned is that Facebook Chat will incorporate mini-feed stories into IM conversations. If you’re chatting with someone and they do something to your profile, like post a message on your wall, you will get a notification into your chat window with them.

Not that anyone’s keeping score, but it looks like, technically, Facebook managed to make their promised launch date of last week with the limited launch sometime before or around midnight on Saturday.