Microsoft’s MSN redesign seems less like Metro, more like Google’s cards - stewartasher1959

With the redesign of its MSN site, Microsoft has adopted a card-based motif that represents a departure from the colorful tiles of Windows 8—and a big move toward the look and feel of its all but formidable contender, Google.

Information technology's hard to believe that MSN, which was released in colligation with Windows 95, is well-nig 20 years old. Microsoft claims millions of people visit the site, which aggregates content from a number of distinct sources.

On Monday, Microsoft showed off its New Look for MSN at preview.msn.com. It takes the concept of "Web portal" and extends it to the concept of a social movement page for Microsoft's services and popular Web sites.

"MSN is positioned to convey together the world's best media sources along with information and services to enable hoi polloi to get more done in their daily, integer lives," a Microsoft spokeswoman explained, when asked what use MSN would play within Microsoft. " Its persona inside the Microsoft retinue of services is to serve every bit a copulative train of thought and ledger entry point for Microsoft sites, as well as scalding tierce party sites that consumers purpose every mean solar day. The new MSN is a reinforcement of Satya Nadella's vision for one Microsoft and a mobile-first, cloud-first world."

msn preview Microsoft — Microsoft's redesign of MSN emphasizes cards. Lots of them.

There's actually a mickle to like in the parvenu redesign. But the UI adopts the rather austere card motif of sites the likes of Google, adapting what you might call the Brutalist style to a Web page. Compare MSN's new look for the Google Play store, e.g., OR the new, icon-driven look of Google Force. Useful, yes. Merely not very friendly, as you might have a bun in the oven a Web portal to live.

Brian MacDonald, corporate vice chairperson of information and substance experiences at Microsoft, explained that MSN now reflects the changes in how users interact with their favorite content.

"Look this landscape, we have rebuilt MSN from the base up for a mobile-first, mist-first world," MacDonald wrote. "The new MSN brings together the world's best media sources along with data and services to enable users to do more in Word, Sports, Money, Travel, Food & Drink, Wellness & Physical fitness, and many. It focuses on the primary digital daily habits in mass's lives and helps them complete tasks across completely of their devices. Selective information and personalized settings are roamed through the fog to observe users in the make love wherever they are."

msn winphone old and new redone — The previous version of MSN (left) and the trailer, along Windows Phone (right on). Eminence: a previous version of this image was improperly formatted and didn't show the correct format of the new MSN World Wide Web page. Information technology has been replaced.

What's most noteworthy is how MSN's redesign moves significantly away from the Windows 8 "Metro" style information technology had previously adopted. In October, 2012, Microsoft redesigned MSN in bright, reverberant colors to sound reflection the look and feel of Windows 8. With the monochromatic, tile-free redesign, Microsoft seems to be admitting that Windows 8's pattern was a mistake. We'll have to run into if other Microsoft sites and properties follow suit.

Low the hood, however, MSN seems a lot more useful. As you might expect, you hindquarters tell MSN your interests, and "espouse" certain topics. But these preferences also carry over to Microsoft's other services, much as its Cortana digital assistant.

At the top of the page, Microsoft has embedded a "services stripe" that connects to Microsoft services like OneDrive and Office 365, and too popular Internet sites such American Samoa Facebook. Put within the context of Bing's social connections to Twitter, Facebook, and more, this makes a lot of sense.

msn food and drink recipe Microsoft — Note the power to save the recipe as a list of ingredients. Precise!

If you bechance to role MSN's Nutrient & Drink section to read a formula, too, look for the integrated button that enables you to save the list of ingredients arsenic a shopping list which can be pushed to your call up. Now that is cool. Microsoft said it plans to launch a series of apps (MSN Money, MSN Sports, and MSN Food &A; Drink) across iOS and Android, complementing the apps it already has for Windows Phone and Windows.

In superior general, I'd prefer a single, deep, MSN app that includes all of these sections, rather than a number of shallow, narrowly-focused ones. But planned tools like shopping lists, a savings calculator, a symptom checker, and a 3D body explorer might justify the separation.

Granted, the Internet tends to hate all change, especially the face and flavour of popular Web pages. Criticizing a preview of MSN's redesign May seem premature, but its glaring deviation from the bright, heroic strokes it adopted with Metro are telling—and also, sadly, rather dull.

Correction: A previous version of this story used a Windows Phone screenshot that was incorrectly formatted to show the desktop view of the site. The story has been corrected to display the straightlaced image and remove statements that the site was improperly formatted, when in fact it was the author's error.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/435096/microsofts-msn-redesign-seems-less-like-metro-more-like-googles-cards.html

Posted by: stewartasher1959.blogspot.com