Microsoft is also working on a complete interface overhaul for its MSN portal, amidst serious hype about Bing.

The current MSN design, which is around 10 years old now, is looking to get a complete visual makeover by Microsoft. The new design is being crafted with personalization and social media (especially video) in mind. Microsoft is attempting to re-vitalize their portal, which 37% of internet browsers depend on for information (according to Microsoft).

Microsoft has been working on making MSN seem more ‘fresh’ since 2006, where they hired the retired John Nicol (who worked for MSNBC). Since then, the MSN portal has seen an overhaul in their video content that led to the broadcast of the Beijing Olympics, as well as the introduction of Microsoft’s own take on Youtube, the ‘doomed’ Soapbox. I say doomed because Soapbox, non-surprisingly, was unable to compete effectively with other online video directories and is busy being cut back, maybe even to a point of ultimate shutdown.

Microsoft is also taking a very interesting approach to personalizing MSN. When most people think about personalization of a website, they think about choosing where what gets displayed, whether they want a search box or not and various other annoyances that tend to waste time instead of boost productivity. Microsoft is attempting to address this with each individual user’s information and demographics. This information will be fed through Microsoft’s algorithms and information relative to the user will be displayed in their portal.

This method of a computer deciding where to place content is being used in more ways than one. Instead of the content needing to be updated manually to suit different user’s needs, the algorithms will dynamically update the portal depending on which stories are being clicked by various users minutes before. I’m sure Silverlight will make a prominent appearnace as well.

Variations of the portals are currently being tested in France and Brazil.

[via CNET]