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Technology Stocks : How high will Microsoft fly? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: t2 who wrote (31537)	11/3/1999 12:02:00 AM
From: taxman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74651

Redmond, Washington, Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. plans to revamp its MSN network of Web sites later this month to make it easier to use as the world's biggest software maker steps up competition with America Online Inc. and Yahoo! Inc. The upgrade will offer more customized content and e-mail alerts as well as easier navigation around the network, according to the MSN Web site (www.msn.com.). Microsoft officials declined to give a date or further details about the plans. Microsoft is building up MSN, which includes the MSNBC news site and Expedia travel bookings, as part of a push into Internet services. The software powerhouse wants to make MSN profitable and the No. 1 site among Web hubs, leaping over No. 1 online service AOL, and Yahoo, the biggest Internet directory. ``This is their most credible looking portal yet,' said Malcolm Maclachlan, an analyst at International Data Corp. ``Do I think it's as good as things being tried by the competition? No.' The revamp of the whole MSN network will follow today's upgrade of the shopping site. The newly named eShop is designed to offer more precise product searches and comparison data to compete during the holiday shopping season. Online-shopping sales are expected to jump 60 percent to more than $7 billion in this year's fourth quarter from $4.4 billion a year earlier, according to International Data Corp. Yahoo and Lycos Inc., the No. 3 Internet search service, both have unveiled upgrades to their shopping services over the past week. ``Commerce and e-mail, those are the two big things' in the MSN revamp, Maclachlan said. Last month Microsoft outlined plans to catapult MSN ahead of competitors and make it profitable by pitching it to consumers and businesses for everyday tasks such as paying bills and getting e-mail. ``Our focus is about delivering an integrated experience to get things done, to get critical tasks done more efficiently than any other way,' said Richard Belluzzo, the recently hired head of MSN. Shares of Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, rose 3/16 to 92 9/16. ¸1999 Bloomberg L.P. regards