Microsoft has rolled out a redesigned MSN.com making the web experience much better than before. Microsoft will also rebrand its Bing mobile apps for Windows Phone, as well as iOS and Android.
“We have rebuilt MSN from the ground up for a mobile-first, cloud-first world. The new MSN brings together the world’s best media sources along with data and services to enable users to do more in News, Sports, Money, Travel, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, and more. It focuses on the primary digital daily habits in people’s lives and helps them complete tasks across all of their devices. Information and personalized settings are roamed through the cloud to keep users in the know wherever they are,” Microsoft stated in an official blog post.
The new Beta portal, which can be accessed at preview.msn.com, features a cleaner, modern design, making it easier than ever to access Microsoft services like OneDrive, OneNote, Xbox Music, or even your Outlook.com email. On top of that, the design features touch optimization and a responsive layout so you can access the portal on any device.
The new MSN showcases “actionable information” together with content and personal productivity tools like shopping lists, a savings calculator, a symptom checker, a 3D body explorer, and more. The portal will feature categories like News, Sports, Money, Travel, Food & Drink, and Health & Fitness.
Content on the portal will come from the likes of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN, AOL (including TechCrunch and Huffington Post) and Condé Nast (including Vanity Fair, Epicurious, Bon Appétit). Worldwide, content will come from The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun in Japan; Sky News, The Guardian and the Telegraph in the UK, NDTV and Hindustan Times in India, Le Figaro and Le Monde in France, and many more.
For example, heading over to the Local News section of the new MSN portal, I was able to quickly see news happening in my area, curated from various reliable news outlets. The content is also presented in a gorgeous and clean layout.
Microsoft also plans to roll out an updated set of MSN apps (formerly known as Bing apps) for Windows Phone, as well as Android and iOS. “In the coming months, we will release a suite of MSN apps across iOS and Android to complement our corresponding Windows and Windows Phone apps. You only need to set your favorites once, and your preferences will be connected across MSN, Cortana, Bing and other Microsoft experiences,” Microsoft added.
This is a complete redesign and reinvention of the MSN portal. Right now the preview is available, and a final launch will take place in the coming months. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below!
