Microsoft to overhaul the MSN portal, plans to release Bing apps on iOS and Android

Microsoft is planning to revamp its MSN portal. The web service has been available for consumers to use for more than a decade, providing insights into the latest headlines, favorite sports, searching through highlighted content on the web and checking emails. The company has published a preview website, showing off what's to come. Microsoft will also be bringing across its Bing apps – which are currently available on Windows and Windows Phone – to Android and iOS, rebranding them all under the MSN umbrella.

The new website integrates into a connected Microsoft account to offer a more personalized experience too. Browsers will be able to quickly check their Outlook.com account, OneDrive and even OneNote scribbles. Then there's Facebook, Twitter, Office 365 and Skype to really expand on external connectivity. It's a neat layout, which will be complimented by MSN apps available across the board.

To make things slightly more confusing for the consumer, Microsoft will be rebranding its Bing suite of apps to MSN. These apps are currently available on Microsoft platforms (without the Bing branding), but will be launched on competitor platforms in the future. It's an interesting switch since the company has previously left its MSN branding behind while Windows Live and Bing took to the stage, but it seems we could well be looking at a slight mix up to have everything synced across the MSN portal from said Bing (soon to be MSN) apps on multiple platforms.

Mobile-first, cloud-first indeed. Microsoft will be rolling out the design overhaul in the coming months. Check out the new preview site over on MSN and let us know what you think in the comments. Unable to load the preview? Turn your ad blocker extensions off.

Source: Microsoft (opens in new tab); thanks to everyone who tipped us!

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

224 Comments

Looking good.
The preview site is a lot better, looks more classy and is simple to use. I like.
I agree, the new MSN looks good!
•
The MSN name is self-referential to the company name, and consistent cross-platform brand recognition is essential.
•
I'm glad to see additional Microsoft services are easily discoverable and accessible. Likewise for the Feedback option.
I prefer the current one. I like the metro look, not this new iOS looking site. Edit - I've only seen the mobile version, haven't seen the desktop version yet.
I don't understand. So Bing is dead?
Another bad move bu MS
They shpuld focus on there own products to make it a ultimate one in there respectivr field
Not at all. The apps we know as 'Bing X' on Windows Phone were really MSN services anyway, simply branded as Bing initially. That's why Bing was removed from their name: because they weren't actually part of Bing proper. Now they're just being branded correctly and launched as native experiences on other platforms. Bing Search is completely out of the context of these changes.
yeah let's jump into "bing is dead" just because you didn't care about reading the article and the reasons behind this.... I mean The Microsoft article, because honestly, this article is crap... this doesn't explain much or say much about this move, but the point is... Bing is a web search, MSN is a portal, and it's very much content-focused, where you can find latests news about anything: Sports, Entertainment, World News... etc. so it makes sense that the Bing apps would be relaunched under the MSN brand, because it would fit more in MSN. and although in Bing, the mini news bar thing it's useful, you can't expect Bing to have all the information MSN gives you without becoming cluttered. So no, it's not dead at all. they are just putting it in a place where it fits more, because Bing it's just a web search today, not a place to get healthy or food information like MSN portal can does.
But they could've have all under Bing like Google does and made Bing equally a household name as Google. It could be possible to have people Bing it instead of Google it, but to MSN it... I always thought it would be good for MS to really bring all under one umbrella instead of fragmenting.
Seems that Microsoft is planning to abandon WP in favour of Android and iOS.
How on earth did you come to that conclusion? Posted via the Windows Phone Central App for Android
Because MS is porting all their apps to Android and iOS?
I'm a windows phone and windows 8 Laptop user, but I see that it's a big loss to leave the whole iOS and android market. Take Bing Maps as an example, it's a big loss for Microsoft to leave Google without any competition in such big market! I'm waiting to use bing apps on my iPad
No... Bing apps make WP special, if they would be on Android and iOS, they'll be quite common! I'll not be able to tease my friends... No Microsoft.! Keep them within Windows and Wp please!
if Microsoft goes in the way of teasing friends policy Microsoft will lose in devices market as what happened to blackberry. they did the same thing. they enjoyed good profits from their devices and bbm. but now what.
Don't worry, no one on Android or iOS will use Bing or the Bing apps.
This. MS image problem is real.
Indeed. If you're gonna rebrand, at least make it something not-shit.
Gold iPhone.
Yes but those who do use Bing apps have less reservation about switching. I am on the fence about staying with Windows Phone- it has been the only smartphone OS I have used. Since all major MS services are now on Android it makes a hard case for me to stay.
The only thing that still keeps me with my windows phone (software side) is the bings translator app. This is just simply amazing compared to google's. Seeing all the apps I need are either on ios or android, I guess It will be the hardware that's left, But the recently launched 830 dissapointed me a lot, so most probably iphone 6 or note 4 for me now.
Right now, maybe, but if you use Bing on your laptop and can now use your profile on your phone, you are more likely to use Bing across all your platforms. Take Google apps, people are complaining that Google won't make apps for WP, so Google apps are only good for Google products. But MS products are good on any product. After while, it's just easier to use MS than Google because I can carry it with me wherever I am.
Don't forget that Bing in Europe is a shadow of what it is in the US. No one in their right mind uses Bing over Google here in Europe, for example.
Everyone on ios already uses Bing. Whether they realize it or not....
Nothing on windows phone is called Bing apps anymore a long time now, Bing is the back end that does all the work.
first you want to make Cortana for iOS and Android and now you want to make Bing for them??? I don't really know what are you thinking Microsoft
And what about all those apps and services that other OS's are enjoying that we don't have buy have been asking for? It works both ways you know. Just because someone owns an Android phone shouldn't mean that they are denied the use of MS services. And of course it means MS apps and services are more universal and not just tied to one platform.
I kind of found bing weather to be slow so I quickly switched back to Microsoft's wp7 app
ComplEment, not compliment. There is a huge difference in meaning. Tom Warren on The Verge has the same word problem, and it's really annoying when a journalist has problems with their own native tongue.
Thank you for this. I agree wholeheartedly. It bugs the crap out of me when authors incorrectly use a word. If writing is your job, use of proper English is rather important.
On the flip side, this is hardly BBC News. We're talking about a niche phone OS - one where the majority of the market share is being built in countries whose native tongue is not English.
So lets just use whatever grammar we want!/s
Nope....I can be a grammar nazi at times. However, I also recognise that this is a fairly niche news portal.
I have moaned about Rich Edmonds articles before -- but he still works here, and still writes in the overly wordy way that I only ever see in people that use English as their second tongue.
Nevertheless, he does get some good news stories out. Obviously he'll never be Chaucer, but then again, it's WPCentral!
I personally wish they had a system where the article gets checked by a colleague before publishing. Such errors would be eradicated. In lieu of that, just overlook the errors.
Nobody cares ffs.
You mean an editor in other words
Fab
Moving towards the end of WP....releasing these apps on android and iOS is a bad idea...
I don't think they are THAT big of a differentiating factor.
True. Bing apps are bing apps. A windows phone is not about Bing apps. I live I Europe and I don't have access to those anyway! ^^
How do you mean? "Don't have acess to those?"
Wait, I also live in Europe, but I have the access. I installed them as soon as I got my Lumia 720. Are you sure they can't be found in the Store?
Well, yes, I think I heard somewhere they can only be found on US. Can you provide me store links to check it out?
http://windowsphone.com/s?appid=9c3e8cad-6702-4842-8f61-b8b33cc9caf1
Oops, yeah, I can download all of these! Sorry for the trouble :)
I think Bing apps runs better with Microsoft account, so please must have MS account, they can capture more ideas from huge peoples and then they can make Microsoft better, and makes Cortana better, I know it bad idea, but they wanna make windows and windows phone OS more cleaver
I think it is a clever idea. For example all the smart watches (Samsung, Sony Motorola etc.) are stuck on android. If Microsoft release bing health and fitness on android, the manufacturers will be encouraged to make their watches work with the app. This could lead to their watches working with windows phone which is what Microsoft want. As it stands, it is only MS designing a smartwatch, but what customers want in a watch is variety, not wearing the same as everybody else
Actually MS is being proactive. Right now Google, AOL, and Yahoo are the only competitors that can offer these services, but they aren't willing to offer their services across multiple platforms. Consumers want something they can sign up for once and use wherever they are. MS is taking advantage of Google and Yahoo's arrogance and filling in the gap. They have a short window of time because the other two companies will catch on and it won't take long to make their apps cross platform. MS is learning from the mistake of Steve Ballmer and not ignoring the small opportunities for future growth and positioning. In the end WP will start being more attractive when the world is used to using MS and Windows products.
Should keep it with us where it belongs not lag droid or isheep
Does this mean they're giving up on taking Google? I mean MSN is more a lifestyle site than a search engine rite.
I don't think so. http://www.wincentral.com.br/2014/09/07/bing-cortana-novo-layout/
Interesting.
Android and IOS apps make totally sense.
Bing apps are available for Windows phones? I live in Europe and I find this offensive!
They are available in Europe, too. Check your Store.
A lot of the apps have lost the Bing brand name, but if you type in Bing in the market they show. So Bing Weather is now Weather, for example.
I liked Bing better...!
I concur.
Does anyone actually use MSN? Geniunely curious. Also, this article needs work factually and grammatically.
As much as they use Bing...lol
Actually, probably more people use MSN than Bing.
I don't use MSN as a site by itself, but I do put weight on the MSN name.
A lot of people still use MSN yes. My parents still goes there.
Good thing these apps are awesome and bring more people into the Microsoft account ecosystem. But I think the MSN brand is bad but i think the Bing app is tarnished too. (Bing is known as the bad google)
Yeah. Still I think MSN will do better as Bing :)
Also Microsoft really has to show something astounding with the next version of windows phone of they want to keep it in the game, because they are slowly giving away all it's benefits to the competitors.
Yes, why bother with the Windows ecosystem? Microsoft stuff is on everywhere, and often better. Other than a good camera, offline maps, which you can get on iPhone using third party apps. Why are we sticking with the Windows platform?
I like all the pretty colors
third party maps support offline maps too on WP, buddy. Lmao. Talk about not knowing your own phone.
I'm more interested in the decision to move away from Bing branding. It would be quite ironic indeed for Bing to be renamed MSN Search.
Ha !! there is nothing unique left on windows phone anymore .Microsoft is always giving and giving to competitors and they never give something back Oh i forgot , Ms is a software company first :P p.s. Bing is a much more recognisable name than MSN . Please let MSN die in peace :(
Oh really? We still have the most unique mobile operating system. We have Office already on our phones for free. We have a personal experience. We have a smooth and fast experience. We have Windows Phone. God, you people are freaking dramatic. Microsoft can never satisfy you people. Everything they do, y'all backlash. What loyal fans you are. I'm sure Microsoft has their reasons, they're a giant company, they don't do things without thinking. They have a plan. Have faith.
iPhones and high end androids (not Samsung)have a smoother and faster experience than WP. No resuming.......................... I can download office on the iPhone and on an android phone for free which includes more features since it gets updated (unlike the WP version) We are loyal fans. But Microsoft aren't adapting fast enough. There are so many ideas we have posted on user voice but they are too slow to add the features to the OS. They are the multi-billion dollar company that made windows, but they are struggling with windows on the phone? They just gave out our entire bing suite to other platforms under msn. That's like apple bringing iMessage and FaceTime to other platforms. All those exclusive apps now gone. What's the point of windows phone when you get the best of Microsoft in other platforms?
Still, Windows Phone is the most modern looking platform available. After I became a Windows Phone user (started as iPhone, then Android, then switched to Windows Phone) I can barely look at IOS or Android now, they're not pretty in my opinion. I love my Windows Phone, even if it's not the beefiest one available (820), it's so beautiful, it's so smooth. When I show it to other people, they love it too. I've switched over 6 people to Windows Phone. I wouldn't give this up just because of a minor lack of apps. I wouldn't give it up because some Bing apps are published to IOS and Android. What's the deal? Those aren't even that special of apps anyway. It would take Microsoft giving up on Windows Phone for me to switch. I am a Windows Phone fanboy, and I can't wait to see what comes next to Windows and Windows Phone.
Msn.... No..... Bing apps... Yes
I think it's a mistake renaming apps to MSN. Bing is on Xbox and WP. It doesn't sound right saying "Xbox, Msn" when searching. Didn't they change things from MSN to Bing a few years ago?
I was still a grade schooler when it was called MSN Search.
They're changing the app names not the damn search engines name
True. I think MSN is/will be under Bing or something like that. Only app names will change and mother of all will be Bing. And by the way curretly those apps are without any branding so it wont make much difference. Its a nice move since most people always treated anything related with Bing as inferior( dont mean its inferior but due to perception problem when compared with Google).
Ppl treat MSN just as bad though.
One of the only things we had as exclusive.
The great Bing Apps. Honestly, it does not seem that Microsoft is a giant.
Why are they renaming them to MSN? Isn't MSN irrelevant and uhm... DEAD! I can't even remember that last time I ever heard/saw the word 'MSN'. :/
Yes this is a really stupid decision by Microsoft. Everyone thinks MSN is dead. Wait, it is dead! Everyone will ignore it. And wait, I have been avoiding that terrible MSN website for a decade. Every fucking time I see that retard site after I log out from outlook. Such a bad taste in my mouth for this MSN site.
I will take a guess and say that MSN still has a very strong brand recognition for content which is unique over just articles being served by Bing. Looks like a smart move to me.
Why do I see google like cards everywhere?
Your drunk? Too much caffeine?
idk
they said they gonna release bing rewards for 75 countries. what happened about that??
WHAT?
I'm lost in the direction Microsoft is going with Bing and MSN.
I think Microsoft is lost in their direction. Nadella is a dinosaur.
I gotta agree. I swear this guy is schizophrenic, they help competitors more than they help their own products and the users that use those products. I'm starting to think Nadella is either pro-google or ios coz he sure isn't pro-Microsoft
One Direction required..
While I am generally a Microsoft fan, sometimes they make me wonder if the dark side where the clever people are after all. For one, MSN is an archaic brand now with no recognition. Plus, it just sounds ridiculous. Just relating them as Bing News, Bing... would not only give a better sounding and more relevant brand name, it might actually even give the brand more recognition, which last I checked, their search engine really needed. Instead, they try to revive a long dead website.
In other words: Go home Microsoft, you're drunk.
Well people still recognize MSN. MSN has been there longer than Bing and at least by renaming to MSN people will not compare with Google/related.
This. You summed up what I wanted to say. Bing sounds better and reinforce the brand. To change it to "MSN" is a step to the past.
No no!!!! Fuck IOS AND ANDROID, make WP better, not IOS + Android
Microsoft may be planning to take on YouTube with MSN Video seeing that Google is not playing nice with Windows for a native/official YouTube app
Is this comment from 2004??? That would take too much money and with this cloud first crap that Satya likes to spew, spending considerable money on this is out of the picture as it would only benefit MS. If Apple and Google don't benefit then Satya wont do it.
New MSN portal looks very good Posted via Windows Phone Central App
I agree. Much better and useful than any of the recent versions.
Guess Bing apps won't be in the WP exclusive section anymore...
Microsoft wants people using its services no matter what platform they are on.
Bing is greater than MSN! Let MSN finally die! Bing FTW!
Yes please let MSN die. Nobody wants it anymore. I can't believe how stupid Microsoft is. They probably think that ugly MSN site has lots of visitors, but it is only because we are forwarded to that stupid site after each log out from outlook.com!!!! I hate that!!
Their play with branding and rebranding is ridiculous...! How many times are they gonna keep switching brands...??
Next thing we know, WP and RT and going to merge into Windows Mobile...!
This idea gave me the creeps.
what benefits WP will get if RT merges.
Shht! They are listening ...
Rename Bing to MSN Search! Rename Windows Phone to Windows Mobile! Let's see, then rename Outlook to Live Mail, or better yet, to Hotmail! Yeah, that's the ticket!
Lol
Only someone so out of touch with consumers and WP would make such a bone head move. (Satya I'm looking at you).
Bad , Really bad idea. Microsoft is pulling its own leg.
I love the MSN hub as well as [Bing] News. My home sites on my browsers are BING/MSN/Various Sites for my company/XboxMusic/Hulu/Fitbit. The closer integration with my phone the better. As for going to iOS and Android, while I think these are great as MS only, it is nice the Microsoft has taken the position that EVERYONE who accesses their services get top-notch experiences. This differs greatly from another Tech giant who has taken steps not only to ignore Windows platform users, but to harm them.
I think it makes sense for the rebrand to MSN, since MSN to people mean getting news and content, while Bing is more of a search engine
Make sense.
I'm actually surprised it took MS this long. Their mantra is to make iOS and Android better platforms first and then WP. No surprise here.
Nadella is going all Leo Apothecker on us...
my future home page :)
its already replaced my bing home page :P
Even though I don't like MSN brand that much, the site is great. The integration of MS services is really good, much better than Google's site. They really need to consider the branding however.
The addition of Facebook and Twitter integration in a neat way is very welcome as well.
honestly? the new Website is awesome! if people start to use MSN more and more they'll recognize and experience a lot of Microsoft Services. i hope the'll improve the skype and xbox Music Integration though.
I'm not sure about the branding, so last century! But the site looks good on my 930, nicely designed :)
Although the site on a laptop (not the mobile version) looks very average.
I hope this encourages google to supply their set of apps to WP. :-)
Maybe Google will do that when the pigs learn to fly.
Checked out the the preview page, and I gotta admit that it's fantastic. Why this continues to be branded MSN is a complete mystery. I don't know anything about marketing, but I know that Microsoft is terrible at it. Bing, not MSN. Amirite?
Your sooooooo right!
Why do MS keep re-branding their services?
Because they're too inept to build a strong brand and stick with it, evidently. So they think they'll find better success just playing musical chairs with their brands instead. SMH
This won't make Google to make make Google apps for windows phone. WP is crap and will be forever crap. Until Ms removed restriction. That's why opera is not available for windows phone. Even android 2.3 is better than wp8.1
.
Try harder.
Seriously? Lol
+1 Posted from my Samsung galaxy S5
Microsoft sucks...and Windows phone too..I seriously regret now..
Before u show love to other OS, at least show some love to your own customer first
What a bunch of clowns!
Disappointing to see that the lead news story in the screenshot is;
'pound slumps to new low as independence referendum nears'
Cheers Alex Salmond you pr*ck...getting Scotland all Braveheartified on the basis of false promises and lies.
Back to the news story, what on earth are MS thinking?!! MSN is a nothing brand. Bing actually has some mindshare....
Better still, why not just stick with Microsoft for all things? Google has faith in their core brand, as does Apple.
How long ago was MSN rebranded to Bing? How long before the next silly rebrand?
I believe one of the changes to Bing was because of anti-trust issues in Europe. Wonder how this will go down in Brussels?
MSFT need to focus on making sure they're the best at what they do, not changing things "just because".
And as for giving apps and services to other platforms, that's fine as long as Windows and Windows Phone get the updates first.
Now apply it to xinmsn, then it will replace google as my home page
so...what about that Bing re-brand recently? even the logo changed less than 12 months ago right? has all that really been canned? this is.... wh... I cant even... *puts kettle on*
Tea for me, milk no sugar. Ta.
I use Bing as my home page because I have access to all the MSFT services I use on a clean interface. Unfortunately, this new MSN webpage does not scale on my WP8 Internet Explorer...typical MSFT.. .
Just playing with the preview site and it looks great. Syncs perfectly with my Bing apps on my phone/Surface too, so all the info is the same. Really nice idea. Might actually set something other than Facebook as my default homepage for the first time in years, especially since their latest changes have made all the information old and irrelevant instead of fresh and current. Really nice move. MSN though? Odd choice of name I think.
I hope they merge bing.com and msn.com, because it is really confusing having two 'top bars'/portals. msn.com has a better top bar with links to outlook and onenote etc. bing.com has links to images and videos in the top bar which msn.com doesn't have. Damn why can't MS just have ONE WEBSITE FOR EVERYTHING.
THIS ^^^^^^
Personally, I use Bing. Exclusively over Google. The reason being, I'm head first in MS territory. It used to be Apple and before that it was Android. For me whatever default search engine is built into my OS (whether phone or PC) is what I use. Simply typing on the Start Screen and getting search results is LOADS easier for me than opening a webpage to Google to receive the same search results. For me it doesn't matter. Addressing the article, I think MS as a whole is wise to get back in line with its pre ious business model of offering it's services across multiple devices. This idea of keeping these apps strictly to Windows Phone (as if search engines and websites are providing people compelling reasons to switch) to me is funny. If having these services available across platforms more people are likely to discover and use them. That's a better scenario than MS depending solely on us WP fans/owners to keep said services alive. Especially, with plenty of people who own WP/Windows 8.1 using competing services like Google. Its not like everyone is exclusive to these services, we all use what we want. This isn't keeping or not keeping anyone from joining this side of the fence. The more users or eyes that see these services and know they exist, the better.
Cool! Another reason I can switch to Android or iOS and feel like I'm not missing out much!
Save for live tiles, haha.
+1 Posted from my Samsung galaxy S5
Microsoft's decisions can be scary at times, I'm nuts deep in their eco system, bragging about their products and it seems as if they are going somewhere else from where I want them to go business-wise, I'm not even sure if they are pro-metro style anymore?? Too many strange moves and keeping a Windows fan confused and in the dark, luckily for them, until the name Nokia disappears from my phone... I'm theirs :|
Yes it is interesting to see that the new msn.com moves away from metro like the old one. Shadows are used, the news boxes are bordered and not flat. But I must say a metro news site looks like shit. It is just not good. Look at the old site, it has many colored boxes with headlines in them without pictures. Terrible design. But it is bad that the new msn.com is inconsistent with modern ui....
You right there is an incosistent look wiht the new MSN site with Modern UI 1.0. But, we don't know exactly what the changes there will be to the upcoming Modern UI 2.0. Perhaps the site is in line with the changes they are making to the Modern UI design itself.
Spot on we have a sm business. MS makes it very costly, we also have 14 WP8 the controller is looking at other products. They just make it hard.
Love the site... very personal and I guess that's the idea. About the apps name I don't see any harm there, giving it to android n ios is another thing.... I just hope MS knows what they r doing.
Nice move
Just do it and you will kill windows phone
yeah because the entire survival of WP depends on the Bing apps that me and everyone I know who owns a WP hardly uses anyway.
and YET, with WP spinning around the toilet bowl why try to sink it even more?
Nonsense. Market share and brand awareness are trending upward. Stay positive!
Ohh really? Where? In your dreams?
Another shot to Microsoft's foot, how many are there already?
No one buys a windows phone for services specific to the platform .. By bringing the same services to other platforms they are basically paving a way for converts .. Once you start using the Microsoft services, you will at least consider WP as a viable upgrade path .. There is no point in isolating your services when the only way to improve them is to have a wider user base.
Yep. If they keep their Bing/MSN apps exclusive to the 3.5% WP market, then they will eventually die and go away. Hopefully, this way they'll get more exposure and marketshare will expand, thus keeping the services alive for all of us. I'm sure the expectation for MS is to lure ios/android users into to the MS ecosystem and have that translate into an increase of Windows marketshare and probably eventual service subscriptions for more advanced features in the future.
Microsoft should be encouraging people to join for exclusive apps that you won't get anywhere else. And do you remember nokia x?
Need to do a My MSN portal update as well.
NOBODY uses MSN anymore. Its synonymous with the late 90's. "Bing" I felt was actually starting to pick up steam with users and market share showed it. ******* Microsoft, where are you going with everything?!
MS Windows 7, 8, RT and WP.
Office, Office365, Office Web Apps, Office Online, Office Desktop, Office Mobile
Music that's become Xbox Music
Bing apps become non Bing apps that will become MSN apps.
Skype and Lync
Suface Pro and Surface RT
etc etc
What happened to the One future. Too many brands and brand names made worse by swapping them around.
It is confusing...,
DO I REALLY NEED TO SEE ALL THOSE ADS FOR ONEDRIVE AND OFFICE WHILE MICROSOFT COULD KNOW I ALREADY USE THEIR SERVICES? SO RIDICUOUSLY STUPID AND ANNOYING! HIDE THEM WHEN I LOG IN! THEY DESTROY EVERYTHING!
The shortcuts to their services already function as ads! They don't even need banners to make their site ugly and messy!
I do agree. Ads for something you already pay for it annoying.
Partly why I don't use the bing app suite on my phone. Fuckin stupid opening say the travel app and seeing a banner at the bottom for the news app. I mean... why? If I've already got it installed on the phone, why advertise it?
The new man site sometimes has a HUGE banner on the right for one of their services. It is so huge it scares me.
Why do i feel more and more that Microsoft's mantra is IOS first, Android first ?
Because that's the case...
Glad to know i'm not crazy
You may in fact, still be crazy.
Because? Do you have arguments or you just want to troll ?
It was meant as humor, I should have made a smiley face.
Lol what? How does these apps coming to Windows phone years before iOS and Android mean they're "iOS and Android first"?
If you read carefully i was saying that more and more (not years ago but now) Microsoft is putting more emphasis on their iOS and Android app than the Windows one.
Nonsense. Windows Phone market share and brand awareness are trending upward. Stay positive!
I think Microsoft is more suprise than we are about market share. From what i'm seeing in the last month, there's a plan B going on where they support more and more the competitor's platform before there own.
I think its a easier way to hub news, food, sports, and travel to one area. Bing is the search, while MSN a place to go.
Meaning they will get it before we do
MSN is a dead brand. Whoever came up with this retarded idea should be fired. They just don't get it.
most of MSFT doesn't get it and they are still employed.
Pretty butterfly from plain msn
Might as well we jump to ios
Why does everyone say 'jump to iOS' when talking about jumping ship.
'Jump to android' is a far better idea if you're going to switch, since it trounces iOS in every way, shape and form.
Except for security, performance, privacy, consistency, and reliability. Otherwise Android is great...not!
The word Titanic comes to mind.
Looks good, now I may actually access the site.
MSN should have been merged into Bing. Everything MS should be merged into Bing for simplicity and tighter marketing focus. MS needs a whole new marketing department.
don't worry WP fans, android and iOS users won't care for anything that starts with bing or MSN :)
This is true.
Release Bing apps on Android and iOS, PLEASE! It'll boost users that do use these services. All in favor for it.
That is actually the point. And that's where the money will be in the next year's.
I support most of the stuff Microsoft does. But MSN is one of the things I think they should just let go. I don't think anyone has ever visited MSN apart from when it's there default start page. Rebranding apps to be MSN in my mind would make them less popular than if they were Bing.
I use to use msn.ca to search before live.ca and now Bing.ca
Bing is better. MSN is dated, and too close to that crappy MSNBC. If they are going stick with tired worn out identity, at least kill off that stupid butterfly.
I don't care about branding, as the apps on windows are already just "News", "Weather", ect... I don't even care how these apps are branded on other platforms (I don't even think MSN is any worse than Bing). The only thing I care is that the new site looks and works gorgeously, I can see myself setting it as my homepage when it will be official. All my MS world in one page, synced with all my windows devices & apps.
People are waaaaay to obsessed with "Bing" here. Bing is a dead consumer brand and is way less respected than MSN. "I haven't used it in years" Yeah, well 400 million people do Also, just look at Facebook as an example. MSN has a million more likes than Bing. Hell, for all we know, people could intentionally not use them because they're powered by Bing.
That's quite true. MSN as a brand is still still way more powerful than Bing, even after the unfortunate shut down of MSN Messenger.
Spot on! Well said.
I think this new site will become my homepage on Internet Explorer
MS has to be the most retarded tech company ever. The rebranding back to MSN, a relic of the 90s is the dumbest move. And then porting all your Bing apps to iOS and Android!!! WTH are they thinking. MS make up your minds. Do you want to only be a software company or an OS and devices company as well. Do you want Windows and Windows phone to survive? Then this 'Cloud first, Mobile first' strategy is not the way to go. You and the feeble minded sheep who follow you claim that it is the only way for MS to survive. WRONG!! The only way to survive is to build a better more compelling product that people want. What MS has failed to do is leverage its strengths in gaming (Xbox), communication (Skype), productivity (Office) etc to form one truly unique and cohesive experience across all devices. The current experience is a complete mess and that is why your product is a failure. And providing all your apps to the competition is not the solution.
I agree with you, but you also have to realize that there is another war going on and MS has to establish it's position quick and soon. I would also say that the other war is more important than the WP in terms of priority. Also, WP is doing well right now for a growing platform with ever changing hardware. WP8 is only 2 years old and offers the same options as iOS and any Android phones. HTC one for example. Now imagine having both the HTC One with Android and WP and being able to use one service to move between phones. Take Onedrive for example...notice you can't do that with Google Drive. And I can tell you that once MS made Onedrive available on all four platforms I switched all my phones to backup onto Onedrive instead of iCloud, Box, and Google Drive. Now they need to do some heavy advertising and get this advantage moving.
This makes sense. When competing with Yahoo and Aol, MSN is better recognized. When competing with Google search, Bing is better. Using the two names in their respected areas of strength is the right way to go.
Absolutely! Good point.
Google search is way better than bing search..
I prefer the old MSN on a PC definitely. The new looks like an old Yahoo page. The new mobile version isn't too bad, which is good since that's the one I would be using most. But I really liked the current version of MSN.com on the phone with the ability to swipe the tiles to view the next headlines. Wonder if you'll still be able to swipe to view next articles when you're reading one. As for the name change... Microsoft again wants to rebrand one of its major services? Who didn't see that coming?? They just need to pick a good name, rebrand everything to it at once, and then stick with it.
It would be cool if they personalize msn to your Cortana interests and selected interests in the current Bing Finance, Sports and News app. That way MSN.com kind of becomes the ecosystem for people to view all their synced favorites.
Great idea! Better integration equals a better experience.
Remember that Microsoft is a software company dabbling in hardware. The new CEO has made it clear they will focus primarily on software. Makes sense to offer their services to as wide an audience as possible. The results will be greater acceptance of Microsoft and possibly moving to Windows Phone, Surface/Pro, Xbox One, etc.
Exactly! Good point.
Excellent! I prefer the MSN branding. I'd rather tell customers the "MSN apps are excellent quality, and available across platforms" vs. the same statement using "Bing".
•
Enhancing and highlighting MSN integration with additional Microsoft services is long overdue, and certainly builds synergy and brand awareness.
•
Consistent user experience and easily discoverable services are essential for a healthy cross-platform ecosystem.
So is bing the site and service disappearing or will it be duplicates like all their services
I think this is cool. Iphone 6 or note 4 plus bing apps, it'sperfect for me. dont get me wrong, I love windows phone like crazy but I'm just getting tired how microsoft/nokia choose to run these things. Removing every reason why should i stick on to wp. They can't even understand what a true flagship means! Removing a feature and then putting it to another, can't we a have phone that have and does it all?
The new site looks great, but all this re-branding is annoying.
So I dont need a windows phone now? Everything I love is moving to other platforms.
I killed the idea to rebrand the Bing apps as MSN apps in the other post's comments, but after spending a little time on the preview site I actually think MSN could actually be a popular home page. Certainly it's going to be a really nice portal for MS ecosystem guys like myself with heavy adoption of OneDrive and OneNote and Outlook.com and should push people towards Skype and Xbox Music/Video if it works. Still not sold on using it to brand cross-platform mobile apps yet, not that I'm in love with the Bing brand there either, but it makes a heck of a lot more sense in this context.
It seemed very curious to me that they are resurrecting MSN, then the obvious hit me...they are going to release MSN as a web-app OS like Chrome with the release of Threshold. Count it.
An excellent long-form article discussing many positive ramifications of the switch and consolidation of Bing to MSN. http://winsupersite.com/cloud/msn-relaunch-microsofts-content-brand-enters-mobile-first-cloud-first-era
Good move for Microsoft. Old MSN is just...old. By integrating services it will become so much more useful.
I do like the new site. However, I think that rebranding the Bing apps as MSN apps is the wrog way to go MSN in my eyes is a dead, old Microsoft brand, while Bing is a fresh face for Microsoft. I guess they are trying to revamp the entire MSN brand but I don't think this is the way to do it. By removing one of their better emerging brands, Bing, from the equation, is a step in the wrong direction in my eyes. Who knows, maybe this will end up being a smart move, but as of now, it sure doesn't look like it.
If you are bought into the Microsoft eco-system (Outlook, Hotmail, OneDrive, etc) the MSN page may be the right homepage. However, I prefer an independent home page like http://www.start.me. More customization options, less clutter.
As long as MSN keeps pushing excessively long ads and "click-bates" folks to click on Bing to artifically drive up numbers for the second worst search engine on the web (only About.com is more useless), MSN will be irrelivent.

Show more comments

Windows Central Newsletter