REDMOND, Wash., July 16, 2002 — Microsoft Corp. today announced MSN®
8, its innovative new version of MSN that is designed to deliver a comprehensive and useful set of software services for consumers to help them reach their potential on the Internet. Offering enhanced online safety features, valuable communication services and advanced browsing and productivity software, MSN 8 will be included in MSN Internet Access broadband and narrowband subscriptions and also will be available as a separate subscription to consumers who use other ISPs. A limited beta of MSN 8 will be released this week. The final version of MSN 8 will be available in the United States and Canada later this year and in other parts of the world in the following months.
“MSN 8 will be the most significant version of MSN we have ever released due to the thousands of hours of feedback we are gathering from people about their everyday problems using the Internet. Armed with this feedback, we are building MSN 8 to make the Web a more useful place,” said Yusuf Mehdi, vice president of MSN. “Our goal is to deliver a service that consumers will want to graduate to, and with the first beta of MSN 8, we’re on track to surpass this goal by delivering excellent services that leapfrog other competitive offerings.”
MSN 8: Innovative Online Safety Enhancements, Communications, Browsing And Productivity Services
Based on thousands of hours of research and customer feedback, MSN 8 was developed to deliver what consumers want and need today while also providing options and features that allow them to grow with the service as their Internet expertise increases. By scaling with the abilities of both the Internet beginner and enthusiast, MSN 8 will deliver an incredibly useful experience that enables consumers to freely explore the Web and communicate with others. Major advancements found in MSN 8 include the following:
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Enhanced online safety features. MSN 8 will fulfill consumers’ demand for enhanced online protection by offering useful and reliable tools such as virus protection software, and advanced and flexible parental controls.
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Advanced communication services. MSN 8 will offer an advanced set of communication services that empower consumers to reduce the amount of junk mail they receive, as well as new e-mail management and creation tools that make the process of writing, sending and receiving e-mail more fun than ever.
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Useful browsing and productivity services. MSN 8 will provide powerful and innovative software that allows consumers to quickly find the information that matters most to them while also delivering value-added applications that have not been available from an ISP previously. MSN 8 will offer Microsoft®
-exclusive content and tools for managing personal finances from MSN Money Plus and editing and sharing photos from MSN Photo Plus, as well as exclusive multimedia content and learning and research materials from MSN Learning & Research Plus.
About MSN
MSN.com attracts more than 270 million unique users worldwide per month. Globally available in 34 markets and 18 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and digital marketing solutions to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com/ . MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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