Microsoft's MSN Web site has been around a long time. And some - even some at Microsoft - would say it looks it.

So the company is fixing to launch what it calls a "refresh" of the MSN site built around a redesign of the home page.

A preview of the redesign is going public Wednesday at http://preview.msn.com. The expectation is that it will go live sometime in the first quarter of 2010.

A less cluttered look and fewer links are immediately apparent in the redesigned site.

Portals such as MSN change over the years, but the one thing the big ones consistently try to do is to draw the most number of eyeballs possible. In MSN's case, the company says, that amounted to 600 million unique visitors worldwide in August.

"This is an important, valuable asset for Microsoft," Bob Visse, general manager of MSN Product Management group, said of the site.

Still, while Microsoft had tinkered with MSN over the past few years, it had not redesigned it to this extent in a decade, the company said.

The current look has remained relatively stable for a decade or so.

The biggest change users will notice is a reduction in the clutter that marked the old site. Visse said the redesigned site has 50 percent fewer links. The readability is also enhanced by a more pronounced airiness on the site, compared with the relatively densely packed look of the current site.

The redesign also reorganizes the site's content into areas of emphasis: news, sports, entertainment and local (which also includes a local events calendar). "Content is still the No. 1 area of consumption," Visse said, referring to the how the site focuses on what Microsoft considers core content areas. That contrasts somewhat with the other leading portals, Yahoo and AOL. The former offers technology and applications that allows users to personalize their page more, while the latter emphasizes numerous special interest sites that link from the main page.

Another noticeable component is the prominence accorded Bing, which since its introduction to the market as an improved, newly branded search engine has won a good deal of visibilty. In fact, the Bing presence (Visse said 45 percent of Bing searches come from MSN) was one of the things that underscored the redesign effort, Visse said. The others were Microsoft's Silverlight technology to play video, Windows Live technology and support for advertisers, especially some of the biggest brands.

In executing the redesign, Visse said, Microsoft examined broad trends of online behavior, and, of course, social networking stood out prominently. That shows up in the new look, with a component that allows users easy access to their Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as Windows Live communications tools and Hotmail e-mail accounts.

Hi, I'm Sharon. Awhile ago I got an idea. You know what it was? Make life happier.

So what did I do? I bought a plane ticket. Next thing you know, Barcelona.

Now, when there's Microsoft news, my editor will write about it. Snap! Makes life simpler.

I'm a PC and this vacation was my idea.

I'll be back on Nov. 9. In the meantime, here are some new Windows 7 ads to keep you entertained while I'm gone.

Microsoft has pulled its sponsorship of the "Family Guy" show scheduled for Nov. 8.

Microsoft was going to sponsor an ad-free comedy/variety show with "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane called "Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show" with Windows 7 integrated into the show.

Microsoft even featured "Family Guy" footage in its onstage demo at the Windows 7 launch party in New York last week.

A story in Variety first spotted via Techflash says Microsoft representatives attended the live taping on Oct. 16, which included jokes about deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest — the type of humor often seen on the "Family Guy" cartoon.

Here is the statement from Microsoft:

We initially chose to participate in the Seth and Alex variety show based on the audience composition and creative humor of Family Guy, but after reviewing an early version of the variety show it became clear that the content was not a fit with the Windows brand. We continue to have a good partnership with FOX, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas. We continue to believe in the value of brand integrations and partnerships between brands, media companies and talent.

And here is the "Family Guy" promo video for Windows 7 in which Stewie installs the operating system on his laptop. The video is part of Microsoft's Windows 741 campaign that targets college students; it was shown last week at the launch party.

Confused about what Windows 741 is supposed to mean? Check out the second video, which explains the marketing campaign and pulls off the amazing feat of making Stewie unfunny.

Apple launched three television ads to squash the publicity bump for Windows 7.

One warns users that Vista did not live up to the launch hype. The other two encourage users to switch to a Mac instead of upgrading to Windows 7.

Here are the ads below, and in unrelated Apple-Microsoft news check out this TechCrunch posting, which points to a MacBook on the screen behind Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on the "Today Show" Thursday. Incidentally, there are users who buy Mac hardware and run Windows on them, but this could be an instance of some Photoshopping work combining a photo with the Windows 7 logo.

Let the Apple-Microsoft flame wars begin in the comments. No personal attacks or you'll be blocked. Extra points for wittiness, though.

Microsoft, in its first quarter earnings call this morning, says the company may have passed the bottom of the economy.

"It's too early to tell, but the fourth quarter of [fiscal] 2009 [which ended June 30] may well have been the bottom of the economic reset," said Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell.

Analysts were pleased with Microsoft's first-quarter performance for fiscal 2010 (ended Sept. 30), complimenting the company on the "nice quarter." It was the first positive earnings call the company has had in a long time. The stock is up about 6 percent since the market opened this morning to $28.28 per share.

With cost cutting of 10 percent year over year, Microsoft was able to beat analyst estimates with earnings per share of 40 cents, where many had been expecting about 32 cents. Adjusted for deferred Windows 7 revenue, earnings per share was 52 cents. Net income was $3.57 billion, an 18 percent decline from $4.37 billion a year ago.

The company said while sales fell, it was a positive result considering the overall macroeconomic environment. Sales were driven by Windows and Xbox, and came in at $12.92 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, a 14 percent decline compared with $15.06 billion in sales in the same period a year ago.

Sales were affected by the Windows 7 upgrade option Microsoft offered to customers who bought a PC before the operating system began selling on Thursday. The company has deferred that revenue, $1.47 billion. If the financial results had included those sales, the revenue would have been $14.39 billion.

Division results:

Windows and Windows Live (new name change, previously called "Client"):

Sales declined 4.4 percent to $4.09 billion. Operating income was $1.46 billion compared with $3.06 billion the same quarter a year ago.

Consumer demand for computers improved significantly, but business demand declined. Overall, the PC market growth was between zero and 2 percent.

Microsoft Business Division (Office, Sharepoint):

As a result of continued weak corporate spending, sales fell 11 percent to $4.4 billion. Operating income was down to $2.86 billion compared with $3.19 billion a year ago.

Consumer sales also declined. Office 2010 is coming out next year.

Server and Tools:

Sales were flat from the same period last year at $3.43 billion. Operating income went up to $1.28 billion from $1.04 billion a year ago.

Online Services Division (includes Bing and MSN):

Sales fell 3 percent to $490 million, attributable to changes in the foreign currency exchange; so it was basically flat. Bing's search revenue is up around 4 to 6 percent in the U.S. The division continues to lose money -- $480 million in the first quarter compared with $321 million a year ago.

Microsoft remains hopeful that the partnership with Yahoo will gain regulatory approval in early 2010.

Entertainment and Devices (Xbox, Xbox Live, mobile):

Sales were flat from same period a year ago at $1.89 billion. Operating income went up to $312 milllion from $159 million a year ago.

Attach rate, or sales of games per console, is 8.7 and 34 million consoles have been sold. "Halo 3" was No. 1 selling game in the U.S. in September. Xbox Live revenue increased by 50 percent.

For my Tweets during the company's conference call with analysts and media, go here.

Here is the link to the Webcast.

I will be live Tweeting at www.twitter.com/sharonpianchan/ if you can't get on.

NEW YORK -- While Microsoft's sales continued to fall in financial results, the software company reported profits that exceeded expectations.

The company said it made $12.92 billion in sales in the first quarter of 2009, a 14 percent decline compared to $15.06 billion in sales in the same period a year ago. Because of cost savings, profit was above what analysts were expecting -- $3.57 billion, or 40 cents per share, an 18 percent decline from $4.37 billion a year ago. Analysts had been expecting profit of 32 cents per share.

Sales were affected by the Windows 7 upgrade option Microsoft offered to customers who bought a PC before the operating system began selling on Thursday. The company has deferred that revenue, $1.47 billion. If the financial results had included those sales, the revenue would have been $14.39 billion, a 4 percent decline from th same period a year ago, and the company would have made 52 cents per share, and increase of 8 percent from the same period a year ago.

The company will hold a conference call to discuss earnings at 7:30 a.m. Here is a link to the earnings release.

Update 6:42 a.m.: The market likes what it's seeing in early trading. The stock, which closed at $26.59 at the end of Thursday, has risen more than 8 percent this morning to more than $28.90.

Microsoft opened its first store today in Scottsdale, Ariz, in a move cribbed from Apple. Here's video from a YouTube user called MicrosoftStore. (It's not clear whether MicrosoftStore actually works at the Microsoft Store.)

But check out the videotaper's blog for photos that look remarkably like an Apple store! The company reportedly recruited employees from Apple stores to work there.

A Mission Viejo, Calif., store is scheduled to open next week.

Here is video below of the line of people before the store opened: