MSN facts for kids
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Current home page in February 2023
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Type of site
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Web portal |
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| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Microsoft |
| Commercial | Mixed |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | August 24, 1995 |
| Current status | Active |
| Written in | ASP.NET |
MSN stands for Microsoft Network. It is a popular web portal and a group of Internet services. Microsoft provides these services and apps for Windows and mobile devices. MSN first launched on August 24, 1995, at the same time as Windows 95.
At first, The Microsoft Network was a service you paid for. It used dial-up to connect to the internet. Later, it became an Internet service provider called MSN Dial-up. Microsoft also launched a new website called Microsoft Internet Start. This was the first default home page for Internet Explorer, their web browser. In 1998, Microsoft changed the name of this website to www.msn.com. It has been at this address ever since.
Over the years, Microsoft has used the 'MSN' name for many different products. Some famous ones include Hotmail (now Outlook.com) and Messenger. Messenger was so popular that 'MSN' often meant 'Messenger' to people. Now, Skype has replaced Messenger. MSN also had its own web search engine, which is now Bing. Many other services under the MSN name have changed or stopped working.
Microsoft completely redesigned and relaunched the MSN website and its apps in 2014. MSN is based in the United States. It also has international versions for many countries around the world.
Contents
MSN's Journey: A Look at Its History
Early Days: Microsoft Internet Start
From 1995 to 1998, the MSN.com website mainly promoted MSN as an internet service. It also offered a custom start page and an internet guide. However, Microsoft's main web portal was "Microsoft Internet Start." You could find it at home.microsoft.com.
Internet Start was the default home page for Internet Explorer. It gave users basic information like news, weather, and sports. It also showed stock prices, entertainment news, and links to other websites. Microsoft staff wrote articles for it, and you could find software updates for Windows. Microsoft's original news website, which started in 1996, was also closely connected to Internet Start.
Becoming MSN.com
In 1998, Microsoft combined the 'MSN.com' domain name with Microsoft Internet Start. It became a new web portal and the brand for many sites from Microsoft's Interactive Media Group. This new MSN.com competed directly with sites like Yahoo! and Excite. Since the new website offered its content for free, the internet service was renamed MSN Internet Access. This service later became known as MSN Dial-up.
The relaunched MSN.com included many different websites. Some content came from 'web shows' that were part of Microsoft's MSN 2.0 experiment. New features were added quickly. MSN.com took over as the default Internet Explorer start page. All content from 'Microsoft Internet Start' moved to MSN.com.
Some of the original websites from that time are still active today. Microsoft Investor, which gave business news and investments information, is now MSN Money. CarPoint, for comparing and buying automobiles, is now MSN Autos. The Internet Gaming Zone, for online casual games, is now MSN Games. Other websites Microsoft later sold include the travel site Expedia and the online magazine Slate.
In the late 1990s, Microsoft worked with many other companies. This helped expand MSN's services. Examples include MSN adCenter and MSN Shopping. MSN also worked with the Encarta encyclopedia.
Since then, MSN.com has remained a popular website. It has launched many new services and content sites. MSN's Hotmail and Messenger services were promoted from the MSN.com portal. This made it a central place for all MSN content. MSN Search (now Bing), a special search engine, started in 1999. The single sign-in service for Microsoft's online services, Microsoft Passport (now Microsoft account), also launched across all MSN services in 1999. The MSN.com portal and related services stayed mostly the same in the early 2000s.
The sports section of MSN was ESPN.com from 2001 to 2004. It was FoxSports.com from 2004 to 2014. MSN had a special partnership with MSNBC.com for news from 1996 until 2012. Then, Microsoft sold its share in msnbc.com to NBCUniversal. The website was renamed NBCNews.com. After that, MSN launched 'MSN News,' its own news service.
By May 2005, MSN.com was the second most visited portal in the United States. It had 23.2 percent of visitors, behind Yahoo!.
MSN showed a preview of a new home page and logo on November 3, 2009. It was expected to be available to over 100 million U.S. customers by early 2010. MSN rolled out the new logo and website redesign on December 25, 2009.
In 2012, MSN announced a new version of its home page for Windows 8. It was released on October 26. Microsoft said the new version would be "clean, simple, and built for touch." It would feel more like an app because of the speed of Internet Explorer 10. New features included 'Flip Ahead,' which let users swipe from one article to the next. MSN for Windows 8 also made new deals with the AP and Reuters.
Changing Brands: Windows Live and Beyond
Many of MSN's services were reorganized in 2005 and 2006. They moved under a new brand called Windows Live. This was part of Microsoft's plan to improve its online services. They wanted to use the Windows brand name. The company also updated its online software and services. This was due to more competition from rivals like Yahoo! and Google. The new name was introduced one service at a time. Windows Live services used Web 2.0 technology. This allowed them to offer features through a web browser that usually needed special software.
Some MSN services that changed names included MSN Hotmail, which became Windows Live Hotmail (now Outlook.com). MSN Messenger became Windows Live Messenger (now part of Skype). MSN Search became Live Search (now Bing). MSN Virtual Earth became Live Search Maps (now Bing Maps). Other services like MSN Direct stayed part of the MSN family.
After Windows Live launched, the MSN brand changed its focus. MSN became mainly an online content provider. It offered news, entertainment, and general interest topics through its website, MSN.com. Windows Live provided most of Microsoft's online software and services. In 2012, Microsoft started to stop using the Windows Live brand. Each service was then called by its own name, without 'Windows' in front.
A Fresh Look: The 2014 Redesign
Microsoft launched a completely new MSN website on September 30, 2014. It used the company's modern design style. The new MSN portal has a new logo that looks like other current Microsoft products. The website no longer creates its own content. Instead, editors choose and reuse content from popular and trusted partner organizations. Much of the old content on MSN was removed. The website was simplified into a new home page and categories. Some of these categories have matching apps:
- News: The latest news headlines and articles from many chosen sources. It syncs with the News app.
- Weather: Current weather, forecasts, maps, news, and traffic. It syncs with the Weather app.
- Entertainment: TV, movies, music, and celebrity news. It also shows theater times, tickets, and TV listings. This is based on the old Bing Entertainment service. It also includes the MSN Games website.
- Sports: Up-to-the-minute scores, standings, and headlines from sports leagues worldwide. It syncs with the Sports app.
- Money: Stock market tickers, watchlists, personal finance, and investments. It also has a currency converter. It syncs with the Money app.
- Lifestyle: News and features about style, home & garden, family, relationships, and horoscopes.
- Health & Fitness: Tools and information about weight loss, exercise, nutrition, and medicine.
- Food & Drink: Recipes, cooking tips, news from chefs, cocktails, and shopping lists.
- Travel: Destinations, trip ideas, hotel search, flight search, and flight status.
- Autos: Research and buying advice, auto news, and coverage of auto shows.
- Video: Trending and viral videos, comedy, and videos from other MSN categories. It works with video search from Bing Videos.
The top of the home page gives access to Microsoft services like Bing, Outlook.com, Skype, and Office Online. It also links to popular social media like Facebook and Twitter. If you sign into MSN with a Microsoft account, you get personalized content. This content also syncs across your devices and the matching apps. The website redesign meant the end of 'My MSN,' a personalized home page service. It used customized RSS feeds, but the new website does not support user-specified RSS content. However, you can now reorder or hide categories on the home page.
With the 2014 relaunch, MSN now uses responsive design. This means it adjusts to fit any screen size, so a separate mobile website is not needed. The MSN redesign was successful. It helped increase traffic by 10 million daily visitors in two months.
In 2022, Microsoft started to replace MSN with Microsoft Start. News pages moved to Start, and ads for the website appeared on the homepage. The homepage is the only part of the site that is still intact.
MSN Apps for Your Devices
| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
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| Initial release | October 26, 2012 |
| Operating system | Web platform, iOS, Android |
| Type | News aggregator |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
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| Initial release | October 26, 2012 |
| Operating system | Windows, iOS, Android |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
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| Initial release | October 26, 2012 |
| Operating system | Windows, iOS, Android |
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
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| Initial release | October 26, 2012 |
| Operating system | Windows, iOS, Android |
The MSN web-based apps give users information from sources that publish to MSN.
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| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
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| Initial release | October 22, 2020 |
Microsoft launched these apps with the 2014 redesign of the MSN website. They rebranded many Bing apps that came with Windows and Windows Phone. News, Weather, Sports, Money, and Travel first came with Windows 8. Health & Fitness and Food & Drink appeared in Windows 8.1. In December 2014, the apps became available on other major mobile device platforms. These included iOS, Android, and Fire OS.
The apps let users choose which sources provide information. Each app has its own color code for its live tile and inside the app. Originally, each app offered a similar experience to the MSN website. They also synced preferences across devices.
There are currently four main apps: Start (formerly News), Weather, Sports, and Money. In July 2015, Microsoft stopped offering the Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, and Travel apps. They are no longer included with Windows 10.
After Microsoft bought Nokia's mobile phone division, Microsoft also started putting MSN services on Nokia-branded feature phones. The Nokia 215 was the only model that supported them. Besides these apps, Microsoft also made separate mobile apps just for MSN China.
Microsoft Start: Your News Hub
Microsoft Start (once called Microsoft News) is a news aggregator. It shows news headlines and articles chosen by editors. The app has sections for top stories, U.S. news, world news, money, technology, entertainment, and sports. It also has other stories. Users can pick their favorite topics and news sources. They can get notifications for breaking news and change font sizes for easier reading.
Start used to have an RSS feed, but that feature was removed. Now, Microsoft only lets users subscribe to specific news sources. This helps curate the news. Start uses a special live tile feature in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. If you click on a story shown on the Microsoft News Start menu tile, you will see a link to that story at the top of the app when it opens.
MSN Weather: Your Forecast at a Glance
MSN Weather (originally Bing Weather) shows weather for your current location or any place worldwide. You can save your favorite places, and they will sync across your devices. You can pin Weather tiles to your Start menu to see local weather quickly. It also offers satellite maps and information about ski resorts. The app gets its weather conditions and forecasts from many international sources. Weather uses weather conditions as its background, making it unique. Weather is not available for iOS. However, it comes preinstalled on the Nokia 215 phone from Microsoft Mobile.
MSN Money: Tracking Your Finances
MSN Money (first MoneyCentral, then MSN Moneycentral, then MSN Money, and later a spin-off of Bing Finance) helps you manage your money. You can create lists of stocks to watch. You can follow companies and get stock updates. It shows the latest news about stock markets. You can see real-time trading figures (with a 30-minute delay). You can track your own personal finances and calculate mortgages. It also gives information on commodities and bonds, and can convert currency.
MSN Esports: Gaming News and Streams
MSN Esports (also known as MSN Esports Hub) is a webpage curated by Bing's AI. It focuses on the growing esports industry. Users can watch streams from YouTube or Twitch. Microsoft's advanced AI, called "Watch For," helps viewers. This algorithm was first made for Microsoft's Mixer. It uses computer vision to find important moments in livestreams and alert the viewer. This algorithm is now in the MSN Esports Hub. Users can also check a calendar for upcoming e-sport events and tournaments. They can also read news for updates on games and their tournaments. After creating the MSN Esports Hub, Microsoft bought Smash.gg, an e-sport tournament platform.
| Supported Games |
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| League of Legends |
| Valorant |
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
| Dota 2 |
| Overwatch |
| Fortnite Battle Royale |
| PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare |
| Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege |
| Rocket League |
| FIFA |
| Gears of War |
| Super Smash Bros. |
International Reach
Microsoft's main headquarters is in the United States. So, the main MSN website is based there. However, MSN has offered different international versions of its portal since 1995. These are for dozens of countries around the world. You can find a list of international MSN partners at MSN Worldwide.
After the MSN website was redesigned in 2014, most international MSN websites look the same as the U.S. version. They are hard to tell apart, except for their content. There were two exceptions: ninemsn and MSN China. Ninemsn was a long-time partnership between Microsoft and the Nine Network in Australia. Microsoft sold its share in 2013 and ended its co-branding in 2016. MSN China was a special version of MSN just for China. Microsoft stopped this portal in 2016. It was replaced with a page that links to other Chinese websites.
Images for kids
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Current home page in February 2023
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MSN.com on its initial launch day, August 24, 1995
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MSN.com in October 1996, with the logo used from 1995 to 1998
See also
In Spanish: MSN para niños
- MSN Dial-up
- List of services by MSN
- Microsoft
