MSN Begins Work on Modular Web Site

A visit to MSN's beta site indicates that the online service has recently begun work on a new version of its homepage. The new site appears to be taking cues from MSN's Start.com test bed, as well as moving some features from its My MSN customizable page to the front page.

From the current design, it appears that users will be able to collapse, add, move, and delete content modules.

Search boxes still appear at the top and the bottom of the site, and the listing of content sections has been moved from the left sidebar in the current design to the top. Prominent links have been given to Hotmail, Messenger and MSN in this top bar.

The site does not yet work with Firefox, and seems to load incorrectly in Internet Explorer 7 within Windows Vista Beta 1. Also, the site is not yet live, meaning a user cannot sign in and customize content on the page as of yet.

While a message at the bottom of Start.com calls the site "an incubation experiment [that] doesn't represent any particular strategy or policy," MSN officials have hinted that some of the features shown may make it onto actual MSN Web sites.

"This isn't a final product but instead is intended to show people some of the ideas we at MSN are exploring around providing a rich experience around Web-based RSS/Atom aggregation," MSN Program Manager Dare Obasanjo said in March.