MSN is in the early stages of launching a social network to rival Google's, called Wallop. According a recent mailing from MSN, "Wallop is designed to allow you to communicate in a more open and lightweight way with the people already close to you. It is unlike other social network software in that the primary focus is on creating interesting content and communication among a known set of people, not on browsing large networks to find people you already know or discuss general topics of interest. However, you are allowed to browse across networks, so keep in mind that content you create is accessible to others in the system."

Initially testers will get ten invitations to give to friends and family, with active testers receiving additional invitations. Apparently the service at this point is tied mostly to email. "You will receive replies to your posts and media directly through email at any address you choose, and can reply back directly from email to make threads," the email continues. Users can create content either directly from the webclient, through an RSS feed, through email, or from a downloadable client.

Microsoft's competition with Google has heated up recently. Not much has been heard of from Google's Orkut project for sometime, but Microsoft's service sounds more complete than Google's at this time. Of course, both projects are in testing and could change dramatically before their launch, or not be launched at all. The email closes by saying, "Wallop is not about who has the most friends, but improving the quality of your communications with the people you care about."