September 27, 1999 Web posted at: 12:28 p.m. EDT (1628 GMT) by Bob Trott

From...

SEATTLE (IDG) -- Looking to make the Internet - and Microsoft Internet offerings - a part of users' everyday lives, Microsoft will relaunch its MSN portal with several user-friendly enhancements, company officials said at an MSN strategy event here.

The focus at MSN is "software as a service," said Rick Belluzzo, the newly recruited Group Vice President of Microsoft's Consumer and Commerce Group.

"That's the way we're thinking about our products all across the company," Belluzzo said.

For consumers, those services include a revamped search engine, MSN Search, the Microsoft Messenger Service, enhanced Hotmail functionalities, and simple Web-publishing capabilities.

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Partners will be able to take advantage of Megaservices - billed as software building blocks for enhancing electronic commerce opportunities through MSN.

As part of the move, Microsoft announced that:

• Its MSN Messenging Service will be available to third parties for redistribution through a licensing program;

• It will offer small businesses a specialized Internet portal, called bCentral, that is designed to help them build Web sites, reach new customers through promotions and marketing, and manage their business more efficiently;

• The company is spinning off its Expedia online travel service in a public offering.

The new MSN site, which in its current state resembles competitor America Online's Netscape Netcenter, will launch in November, according to Brad Chase, senior vice president of the Consumer and Commerce Group.

Bob Trott is an InfoWorld associate news editor, based in Seattle.