Microsoft announced this week that it’s in the process of rolling out its new revamped MSN website. Earlier this month we covered how Microsoft launched the revamped MSN for Preview, and now the company is rolling out the new site over the next 72 hours.
According to Microsoft, “nearly 10 million of you took the opportunity to test out the new site and more than 80,000 of you even took the time to tell us what you thought.” And based on that feedback, Microsoft made several changes to the site.
What’s nice with the new page is at the top there’s easy one-click access to favorite Microsoft services like Outlook.com and Skype, as well as social services Facebook and Twitter.
Updated MSN Mobile Apps
The web page isn’t the only thing that’s being updated. Bing mobile apps for Windows Phone 8.1 are also getting updates including the Health & Fitness and Weather apps. Android and iOS will also be receiving new MSN versions to be launched in the near future.
This is all in part to Microsoft rebranding its Bing apps to MSN apps instead. For instance, instead of Bing Finance, it will be rebranded to MSN Money.
According to the Microsoft blog post:
With today’s release, we now have one unified, consistent Azure-powered experience that spans the apps on your Windows 8.1 device to MSN in the cloud. While Bing will continue to provide search and intelligent experiences, now the apps will be branded to reflect their alignment with MSN as a premium experience for content, combined with personal productivity features. Aside from Bing Finance, which will now be MSN Money, all of the apps retain their existing names.
Microsoft is making these changes to focus on its services that will be available across all mobile platforms. We should see some of that in the Windows 9 event being held later today.
Say what you will about Windows 8, it appears that new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is taking the company in a new direction and we should see a lot of interesting changes for better (or worse) over the next year.
What are your thoughts on the new MSN page, the rebranding of Bing apps, and Microsoft’s focus on services? Leave a comment below and let us know.
10 Comments
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Mahlon williams
September 30, 2014 at 2:17 am
The new msn site sucks!
Keith
September 30, 2014 at 6:01 am
I think the new site stinks. When your company will not let you upgrade browser, you loose out on stuff.
mike
September 30, 2014 at 7:07 am
i like the new site…it just needs a little more customizing features like colors or backgrounds
Brian
September 30, 2014 at 7:21 am
I have been using the preview for some weeks and they have been making great progress in resolving issues. It is an excellent change that makes for a quick read throughout the day to stay informed. The shortcuts to MS services I don’t find very useful as most of the services I use are apps and the shortcuts are just links to web based destinations. The home page updates frequently and I really like the copius use of sliders and the overall visual feel. Nice!
Paul
September 30, 2014 at 1:18 pm
absolutley the worst. Just like windows 8.
I will be leaving msn because it stinks now.
just can’t leave well enough alone.
Look at all the negative reviews!!!!!!!! whats wrong with you people!!
Brian Burgess
September 30, 2014 at 3:16 pm
If you’re heavily invested in Microsoft products and services, this is a nice refreshing change…a one stop spot for everything.
Having the ability to access your most important services easily like Dropbox and Outlook. com is great. The UI is clean, and with the addition of Facebook and Twitter … I have to say this is a winner.
wheelsey_4
October 5, 2014 at 1:44 pm
I cannot use Bing as my default search engine nor can I use MSN’s home page without them both crashing my IE 11 browser. WTF??? Any thoughts, Brian?
Mike Talinn
October 1, 2014 at 6:55 am
Overall the new MSN site has a much better design than the previous version. However, I don’t see enough added-value (content) to visit this site (frequently).
Having removed some of the personalization features – like custom bookmark lists – also makes the site less appealing as browser start page. As you already said Brian, if you are fully invested in Microsoft’s products it may still work as start page.
However, I prefer a start page like http://www.start.me where I can access all my Microsoft, Google and other products at once.
Cristine Buntin
October 13, 2014 at 9:42 am
MSN SUCKS BIG TIME> Their new site sucks. I may just have to find another site, like Yahoo because I can’t stand this crap!
Cristine Buntin
October 13, 2014 at 9:44 am
NO moderation needed Beiieve me