MSN preview web page

[Bobvfr]

With the coming of the rename of Bing apps to MSN apps, I thought I would have a look at the MSN website. I seem to remember looking at MSN many years ago (Maybe 10 years ago), but I have to say I like the new page, you have the normal news, sport, tech news and stuff like that, you can choose what you see.

But running along the top are some really nice buttons, Outlook, Office, One Note, OneDrive, Maps, Facebook, Twitter, Music and Skype.

Haven't played too much, but with the Outlook you can send/receive email, check your contacts, calendar and more, with Music you are presented by the online version of Xbox Music and can see your cloud collection and more, One Drive allows you to see all your files of course.

I have to say it makes having MSN as a favourite or even your home page an option, got to admit I was getting fed up of the BBC page and Bing News and Sport where getting more use and now I can see me making much more use of the MSN page especially when the preview becomes the default page.

If you visit the MSN home page their is a link to the preview page, I have set that as a favourite, not the default one. If you haven't had a look it might be worth a few minutes looking it over.

Bob

 

[HelloLudger]

I completely agree with you.
Nice layout and good integration of Ms services.

 

[Mr French]

Yeah, I just discovered their preview today, and I really love it. There is all I need, that's a really cool website. I already set it as the default page when I open a new tab

 

[Bobvfr]

Got home from work and launched MSN and my Google email address is up alongside my Outlook one, getting better.

Although I am not a facebook or twitter user so it would be nice to have the option to turn these off so I can't see them.


Bob

 

[dgr_874]

I also found out today that when you customize the news section on the website, it carries over to the Bing News App and has all your topics right there. So cool!

 

[luxnws]

preview.msn.com matches up with the Bing/MSN News, Sports, Finance (called Money section), Health & Fitness, Food & Drink, and Travel apps. Is MS going to retire the msnmoney.com site? WP doesn't have separate Bing/MSN apps for the Entertainment, Lifestyle, and Autos sections in preview.msn.com.

The site is taking shape nicely but just curious, who or what type of Internet user do you all think the MSN site is being targeted at?

 

[HeyCori]

And it looks like the app name change is now live.

Say goodbye to Bing apps, and hello to new MSN apps | Windows Phone Central

Now my Weather app says MSN Weather. And... as predicted... yeah I don't care that much. The sky didn't fall. The app still works exactly the same as before.

Never been a fan of the MSN brand but I think this is (fingers crossed) a good move. No reason to have separate branding. Anyone that uses MSN Finance on the web shouldn't be confused because it's called Bing Finance on Windows Phone.

The site is taking shape nicely but just curious, who or what type of Internet user do you all think the MSN site is being targeted at?

I've always considered MSN a more direct competitor to Yahoo.com. They both want to be a web portal to everything, be it movies, music, finance, etc. I can understand why Microsoft would want to do this. I've seen reports that MSN gets 20 million daily visitors. Microsoft should be taking advantage of those numbers. Like I said, someone that uses MSN Finance on the web shouldn't have to look for "Bing Finance" on a different platform. Web users that want a mobile app should be able to just type in MSN, not Bing. IMO, it makes more sense, and I don't see what Microsoft gains by having competing brands that serve the same purpose.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Is it possible to share from the apps via SMS/email now or not?

I never used the Bing/MSN apps, since they were worthless for sharing stories with my family/friends, since nobody I know uses Windows Phone or Windows 8/8.1. I'd use the apps more, if they could be used send links and recipients could view the links if they use: Windows 7 PC, Mac OS X, Androids, iPhones.

 

[luxnws]

Is it possible to share from the apps via SMS/email now or not?

I never used the Bing/MSN apps, since they were worthless for sharing stories with my family/friends, since nobody I know uses Windows Phone or Windows 8/8.1. I'd use the apps more, if they could be used send links and recipients could view the links if they use: Windows 7 PC, Mac OS X, Androids, iPhones.

Same as before. You can share the article links to text message or email or the full article to the reading list app which is especially handy if you want to read the article later or on your Win 8 PC.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Same as before. You can share the article links to text message or email or the full article to the reading list app which is especially handy if you want to read the full article later or on your Win 8 PC.

Do the links in email/SMS say "open this in the MSN app for Windows 8/Windows Phone" like previously? I'd need the regular link to the website, not anything related to Windows 8/Windows Phone apps, since I don't know anyone with Windows 8 or Windows Phone.

 

[luxnws]

Do the links in email/SMS say "open this in the MSN app for Windows 8/Windows Phone" like previously? I'd need the regular link to the website, not anything related to Windows 8/Windows Phone apps, since I don't know anyone with Windows 8 or Windows Phone.

When you share an article via email, it sends the first line of the article, the article source and dateline, and a link to the article. The link to the article is usually to bing.com or I'm guessing more frequently in the future to msn.com with the MSN site going live soon (although links to articles in the News app still include preview.msn.com) so any web browser should do. The link is the same when sending via text message.

 

[Laura Knotek]

When you share an article via email, it sends the first line of the article, the article source and dateline, and a link to the article. The link to the article is usually to bing.com or I'm guessing more frequently in the future to msn.com with the MSN site going live soon (although links to articles in the News app still include preview.msn.com) so any web browser should do. The link is the same when sending via text message.

Thanks! That would work then.

 

[JeffWeber]

I'm liking the new look... MS really needs to lock down there branding though.... they are all over the place.

 

[Prannav Gupta]

What does the Skype tab do?

 

[Bobvfr]

What does the Skype tab do?

Haven't played with it much but like the Xbox Music tab you can sign in an manage your Skype account and a few other bits, I suppose it would be more useful if you are using the MSN away from your own PC, but I haven't tried sending messages or calling from it yet.

Skype is a program I really want to use, most of my family are on it but we don't tend to use it.


Bob