Introduction

Microsoft, in its tried and true method of try & try again, launched today the latest iteration of the MSN client aiming to steal market share from arch-rival AOL; MSN 8.  For years, MSN has been considered an also-ran, but make no mistake, Microsoft intends to change that prevailing mentality; it has poured some $500 million dollars into R&D for MSN, and is launching a mammoth $300 million dollar advertising campaign promoting MSN 8.

For this release, Microsoft paid very close attention to customer feedback, and conducted extensive anthropological research to learn how people interacted with the Internet, and with early versions of MSN 8.

For those who are just now taking note of MSN’s focus on software, it is interesting to note that this is has been an evolution of an idea that was first & exclusively reported first here on ActiveWin.com back in February of 2000! (http://activewin.com/articles/mars/1.shtml)  It is fun to watch how software changes over time!

How does this software hold up? Read on to find out!

 Setup & Installation

Installation of MSN 8 is a breeze, and the accompanying install music almost puts you in a trance.  If you are not an active paying MSN Dial-up, Broadband, or BYOA (Bring Your Own Access) subscriber at the time of installation, you will be required to create an account and subscribe before being able to access MSN 8.  If you are an MSN Extra Storage subscriber, that service uses the same billing platform as MSN 8 and will pre-populate the subscription forms with all the required information.  Another little enhancement that makes the signup process simple.