Microsoft reveals new MSN.com, Messenger Beta

     Las Vegas, Nev. (eFront News) – Earlier this week at COMDEX Fall ’99, Microsoft debuted its latest incarnation of the MSN.com portal alongside a new beta version of the MSN Messenger Service. The new MSN.com site features closer integration with MSN Hotmail and the MSN Messenger service, strengthening the site’s focus on communications.
This latest update to MSN.com gives the site a much-needed cosmetic overhaul and a personalized Message Center. The Message Center alerts users to new Hotmail messages and contacts who are online with the MSN Messenger Service.
Not surprisingly, Microsoft has also integrated its fledgling Passport service into MSN.com. The Passport allows a user to login to all of Microsoft’s MSN web sites, including Hotmail and MSN Web Communities, with only one login name and password. The Passport login will soon be available to other web sites, so that the one login concept can be applied almost anywhere.
The new version of MSN Messenger, available for download since late Tuesday, includes several important new features and changes. The two most useful new features of version 2.0 are the improved Hotmail integration and message formatting options. Users of Messenger are finally able to change the font, text size, and text color of their instant messages. The improved Hotmail integration is in the form of a Mail button on the toolbar, which gives a count of new Hotmail messages and easy one click access to the inbox.
One startling revelation in Messenger 2.0 is the lack of integration with AOL Instant Messenger. Over the past few months, Microsoft has struggled to update its client to access AOL’s network. Several reports indicate that AOL is exploiting a serious security flaw in it’s own software to screen out users of the MSN Messenger. Both Microsoft and America Online are now working with the Internet Engineering Task Force to provide an Internet-wide standard for instant messaging interoperability.