Microsoft's Revamped MSN Gets Personal

MSN is entering the 21st century with a preview version of its revamped Web hub.

Two decades in the making, the makeover applies Redmond's "cloud-first, mobile-first" strategy to MSN.com, Brian MacDonald, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Information and Content Experiences, wrote in a blog post.

"It focuses on the primary digital daily habits in people's lives and helps them complete tasks across all of their devices," MacDonald said. "Information and personalized settings are roamed through the cloud to keep users in the know wherever they are."

The site currently has a rather outdated look, with small photos and font size. Going forward, MSN visitors will be able to more easily customize their experience based on their interests. The page layout comes standard—top news stories above in-depth categories—but can be reshuffled.

"One of our goals was to make it simple to personalize what you want to see regardless of which devices you use," MacDonald said, teasing an upcoming suite of MSN apps for iOS and Android, to complement the existing Windows and Windows Phone services.

"You only need to set your favorites once, and your preferences will be connected across MSN, Cortana, Bing, and other Microsoft experiences," MacDonald continued.

:story: PC Magazine