Mars, the next version of MSN, is just around the corner.

February 27, 2000 12:30 AM

Mars, the next version of MSN, is just around the corner. It's obviously an AOL clone, giving new users a view of the internet filtered for ease of use. My opinion of it is split. On the one hand, there's nothing wrong with making a useful, straight-forward interface that anyone can use. In fact that's a holy grail for UI designers. But the interface is a bit much, taking up over a third of the screen real estate, and it will no doubt funnel users into all of the MSN websites. Will MSN users know the rest of the internet is out there?
posted by mathowie (3 comments total)

Many of the people I know who signed up to AOL UK didn't even realise that the rest of the web was out there. I said to them 'check out my website and let me know what you think' and 'have a look at the BBC's site - it's the best content site around'. [A long pause followed]
They then enquired, 'which AOL keyword is that under?'. They simply didn't know that there was a world outside the AOL empire.

A great shame.
posted by williamtry at 1:52 AM on February 27, 2000

That's probably because they were new users. The only AOL users who don't know what a URL is are either very new or incredibly stupid.
posted by gleemax at 4:55 PM on February 27, 2000

Does anyone else think that MSN Mars sounds
way too much like M&M Mars?
posted by jessamyn at 11:01 PM on February 27, 2000