Microsoft Goes Online

摘要

Microsoft Network, Microsoft's new online service, has much in common with Windows 95 (with which it comes bundled). Both were accompanied by fanfare and hype that exceeded their actual significance. Both will be widely adopted, but this will be due as much to their familiarity as to their superiority. Both are based closely on concepts developed by others. Finally, both are refinements rather than far-reaching innovations. Microsoft Network (MSN) offers no radical breakthroughs, but is instead a smooth, attractive version of a consumer online service and its standard elements. With a few noteworthy exceptions, its content can be found elsewhere on consumer and professional services. Its arrangement will also be immediately familiar to any experienced consumer service user. What is new is a sleek, powerful Windows 95 interface that deftly integrates the various MSN sections as well as MSN with other Windows applications and the Internet.