Developers: Start your engines -- the Mango update is here (plus an updated Mango SDK)!

The rumors are really true, but that's besides the point now: the Mango update for developers is available now! Brandon Watson has taken to the Windows Phone Developer Blog and laid out all the details devs need to know to get their "goodie basket" update.

First of all, not every single developer may get the update today; Watson cited, "final kinks in the distribution and support infrastructure for delivering Mango to all of our registered developers around the world," that are limiting them but invites to update are on their way to developers starting now. So if you've been a pretty active dev for Windows Phone 7, it may be worth refreshing your inbox several thousand times today. Plus you don't need a developer phone because this Mango update should be compliant with all available retail products and yes student developers will also have access to the Mango update!

If you have an invite in your hand and you're ready to download that Mango goodness, STOP. Watson left very important words of caution before you proceed to do anything: first go get the new Mango SDK Beta 2 which is ready for your downloading pleasure, and second read the instructions. Since this is considered an unofficial update, there are always risks to updating your device and if you're using your personal phone with the update it's best to be cautious and read every single step before going through with it.

Finally, here is the list of officially supported countries for the roll out:

• Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

Want to know more about Beta 2 of the Mango SDK? Read up on all of the new changes here, but the biggest change is undoubtedly the ability to actually publish Mango-compliant updates in the Marketplace which means we'll start to see more apps really make use of those tucked away Mango APIs!

So what are you waiting for, an invitation? Oh, right...you probably are. Well you can still keep yourself busy by downloading that new Beta 2 but if you've already done that we recommend checking out what the journalists said about Mango in order to whet your appetite.

Update: According to Microsoft's Cliff Simpkins, we were wrong and every single registered developer should receive an invite to download the update TODAY. Awesome!

Source: Windows Phone Developer Blog