diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
index cb7f8fab94..4d33bf03ce 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Dispatchers.scala
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
  */
 object Dispatchers extends Logging {
   val THROUGHPUT                      = config.getInt("akka.actor.throughput", 5)
+  val DEFAULT_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT        = config.getLong("akka.actor.dispatcher-shutdown-timeout").
+                                        map(time => Duration(time, TIME_UNIT)).
+                                        getOrElse(Duration(1000,TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS))
   val MAILBOX_CAPACITY                = config.getInt("akka.actor.default-dispatcher.mailbox-capacity", -1)
   val MAILBOX_PUSH_TIME_OUT           = Duration(config.getInt("akka.actor.default-dispatcher.mailbox-push-timeout-time", 10), TIME_UNIT)
   val THROUGHPUT_DEADLINE_TIME        = Duration(config.getInt("akka.actor.throughput-deadline-time",-1), TIME_UNIT)
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Future.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Future.scala
index 37527c2ffa..2ac412d36d 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Future.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/Future.scala
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /**
- * Copyright (C) 2009-2010 Scalable Solutions AB <http://scalablesolutions.se>
+ *  Copyright (C) 2009-2010 Scalable Solutions AB <http://scalablesolutions.se>
  */
 
 package akka.dispatch
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ object Futures {
     f
   }
 
+  /**
+   * (Blocking!)
+   */
   def awaitAll(futures: List[Future[_]]): Unit = futures.foreach(_.await)
 
   /**
@@ -58,34 +61,10 @@ object Futures {
   def awaitMap[A,B](in: Traversable[Future[A]])(fun: (Future[A]) => B): Traversable[B] =
     in map { f => fun(f.await) }
 
-  /*
-  def awaitEither[T](f1: Future[T], f2: Future[T]): Option[T] = {
-    import Actor.Sender.Self
-    import Actor.{spawn, actor}
-
-    case class Result(res: Option[T])
-    val handOff = new SynchronousQueue[Option[T]]
-    spawn {
-      try {
-        println("f1 await")
-        f1.await
-        println("f1 offer")
-        handOff.offer(f1.result)
-      } catch {case _ => {}}
-    }
-    spawn {
-      try {
-        println("f2 await")
-        f2.await
-        println("f2 offer")
-        println("f2 offer: " + f2.result)
-        handOff.offer(f2.result)
-      } catch {case _ => {}}
-    }
-    Thread.sleep(100)
-    handOff.take
-  }
-*/
+  /**
+   * Returns Future.resultOrException of the first completed of the 2 Futures provided (blocking!)
+   */
+  def awaitEither[T](f1: Future[T], f2: Future[T]): Option[T] = awaitOne(List(f1,f2)).asInstanceOf[Future[T]].resultOrException
 }
 
 sealed trait Future[T] {
@@ -105,6 +84,19 @@ sealed trait Future[T] {
 
   def onComplete(func: Future[T] => Unit): Future[T]
 
+  /**
+   *  Returns the current result, throws the exception is one has been raised, else returns None
+   */
+  def resultOrException: Option[T] = {
+    val r = result
+    if (r.isDefined) result
+    else {
+      val problem = exception
+      if (problem.isDefined) throw problem.get
+      else None
+    }
+  }
+
   /* Java API */
   def onComplete(proc: Procedure[Future[T]]): Future[T] = onComplete(f => proc(f))
 
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
index f7eb0ca170..33a7a62af3 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/main/scala/dispatch/MessageHandling.scala
@@ -145,7 +145,11 @@ trait MessageDispatcher extends MailboxFactory with Logging {
     }
   }
 
-  private[akka] def timeoutMs: Long = 1000
+  /**
+   * When the dispatcher no longer has any actors registered, how long will it wait until it shuts itself down, in Ms
+   * defaulting to your akka configs "akka.actor.dispatcher-shutdown-timeout" or otherwise, 1 Second
+   */
+  private[akka] def timeoutMs: Long = Dispatchers.DEFAULT_SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT.toMillis
 
   /**
    * After the call to this method, the dispatcher mustn't begin any new message processing for the specified reference
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala b/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala
index 6cd57c15fe..df088ce89c 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/ActorModelSpec.scala
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ abstract class ActorModelSpec extends JUnitSuite {
     a.start
     assertDispatcher(dispatcher)(starts = 1, stops = 0)
     a.stop
-    await(dispatcher.stops.get == 1)(withinMs = 10000)
+    await(dispatcher.stops.get == 1)(withinMs = dispatcher.timeoutMs * 5)
     assertDispatcher(dispatcher)(starts = 1, stops = 1)
     assertRef(a,dispatcher)(
       suspensions = 0,
diff --git a/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/FutureSpec.scala b/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/FutureSpec.scala
index d8b03bb0da..2b456a7cd3 100644
--- a/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/FutureSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor/src/test/scala/dispatch/FutureSpec.scala
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import org.junit.Test
 import akka.dispatch.Futures
 import Actor._
 import org.multiverse.api.latches.StandardLatch
+import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch
 
 object FutureSpec {
   class TestActor extends Actor {
@@ -53,7 +54,6 @@ class FutureSpec extends JUnitSuite {
     actor.stop
   }
 
-  /*
   // FIXME: implement Futures.awaitEither, and uncomment these two tests
   @Test def shouldFutureAwaitEitherLeft = {
     val actor1 = actorOf[TestActor].start
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ class FutureSpec extends JUnitSuite {
     actor1.stop
     actor2.stop
   }
-  */
+
   @Test def shouldFutureAwaitOneLeft = {
     val actor1 = actorOf[TestActor].start
     val actor2 = actorOf[TestActor].start
diff --git a/config/akka-reference.conf b/config/akka-reference.conf
index c6f3647d0f..8bb6131524 100644
--- a/config/akka-reference.conf
+++ b/config/akka-reference.conf
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ akka {
     serialize-messages = off           # Does a deep clone of (non-primitive) messages to ensure immutability
     throughput = 5                     # Default throughput for all ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher, set to 1 for complete fairness
     throughput-deadline-time = -1      # Default throughput deadline for all ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher, set to 0 or negative for no deadline
+    dispatcher-shutdown-timeout = 1    # Using the akka.time-unit, how long dispatchers by default will wait for new actors until they shut down
 
     default-dispatcher {
       type = "GlobalExecutorBasedEventDriven" # Must be one of the following, all "Global*" are non-configurable