Blog News: MSN Spaces to Get a Facelift

MSN Spaces, err Windows Live Spaces is going to get a much needed facelift. According to the Spaces' home page, this should go live in some form this summer;

In the summer of 2006, we will unveil a more powerful version of MSN Spaces which will be called Windows Live Spaces! Stay tuned!

MSN Spaces is on of the most popular blogging platforms out there although you have probably not heard of it or seen many blogs on it because it is so popular outside of the US.

Just the other day I actually attempted to sign-up for an MSN Space in order to explore it and see how it worked. To my surprise it was incredibly simple, assuming you already have a Microsoft Passport account. After a few minutes I had my MSN Space up and running. It is more like a cross between Blogger andMySpace platform without the social networking features of MySpace and without the flexiblity of Blogger. If Microsoft really wants to make MSN Spaces, errr, Windows Live Spaces a hit in the US, they need to pick a direction for their Spaces and go for it.

Personally, if they want to go after MySpace then they will easily be able to spin the family friendly aspect of social networking especially with all of the negative news regarding MySpace lately. It is something most parents would probably love. If MSN decides to go after Blogger, then it needs to allow more customization, publishing externally, and a cleaner URL.

Either way, Windows Live Spaces has a lot of potential IF Microsoft can make a decision regarding the direction they want to see the platform grow.