Yes, I use XInput. Naturally 3rd party tools sound interesting. 14 days ago I really didn't know anything about Xbox 360 controllers and I didn't heard about 3rd party tools. I was studying DInput when I stumble over XInput.
What do you think about the concept of the dlllfunctions. Personally I like it and I like the values I can use (0 - 1000 - personally I hate the wdl joystick values -255 to +255). I think I have to add two functions for the hat: Xbox_hat_horizontal() and Xbox_hat_vertical().

Code:
define right, 1; 
define left, -1;
//...
if(Xbox_hat_horizontal(1) == right) { //turn to the right...}

This should make the list of dllfunction complete.

Don't take the cake to the party.