Preview of new MSN homepage, getting socialized

Today Microsoft unvealed its new format for the MSN.com homepage in a public preview.

What are the most interesting changes?

• First of all, the new MSN is lighter.  All this stuffed, bloated site is gone.

• A new, simplified MSN butterfly logo has been introduced, trademarked on October 12.

• Easy pastel colors highlight the topic areas of the site.

• A prominent Bing search bar has been embedded on top.

• There is a local version of the site with information around your city/region (see photo below).

• You have a number indicator how many unread mail you got in your Hotmail, right on the top.

• Widgets for Hotmail, Windows Live, Facebook and Twitter give you fast access to your social networks, with a single mouse click.  Of course, Facebook and Twitter are accessed with their respective authentication flows (Facebook Connect and Twitter OAuth).

In my opinion, MSN is now a worthy homepage, with info you want and access to stuff you need.  What do you think?