Microsoft readies overhaul of MSN portal.

Looking to make the Internet - and Microsoft Internet offerings - a part of users_ everyday lives, Microsoft will relaunch its MSN portal with several user-friendly enhancements, company officials said at an MSN strategy event here Thursday. The focus at MSN is "software as a service," said Rick Belluzzo, the newly recruited Group Vice President of Microsoft_s Consumer and Commerce Group. "That_s the way we_re thinking about our products all across the company," Belluzzo said. For consumers, those services include a revamped search engine, MSN Search, the Microsoft Messenger Service, enhanced Hotmail functionalities, and simple Web-publishing capabilities. Partners will be able to take advantage of Megaservices - billed as software building blocks for enhancing electronic commerce opportunities through MSN. As part of the move, Microsoft announced that: -- Its MSN Messenging Service will be available to third parties for redistribution through a licensing program; -- It will offer small businesses a specialized Internet portal, called bCentral, that is designed to help them build Web sites, reach new customers through promotions and marketing, and manage their business more efficiently; -- The company is spinning off its Expedia online travel service in a public offering. The new MSN site, which in its current state resembles competitor America Online_s Netscape Netcenter, will launch in November, according to Brad Chase, senior vice president of the Consumer and Commerce Group.