Final Results And Overall Mark  

Well we have reached the end of the review. Here are my final comments, notes and grades for MSN 8.

Final Comments

There has been a lot of water cooler discussion about whether or not MSN 8 is worth the cost, and who would be likely to use it.  To be honest, I am surprised MSN 8 is as cheap as it is for all the value included.  As someone who has been using the Internet since CompuServe first came on the scene, and accessing bulletin boards before that (2,800/9,600baud modems…ugh!), I was surprised by how much I have come to enjoy having a client that truly allowed me to expand how I used the internet to do more.  MSN 8 with a sleek and more professional appearance and a customizable navigation bar for people like me to shrink the large, possibly offensive icons will likely reduce the mental barriers to entry.  Once I got passed the user interface, and tailored it to my liking, I was able to focus on what mattered to me most on the internet, and MSN services.

In addition to being a windows enthusiast, I consider myself an internet enthusiast; I am genuinely excited about the future of the Internet, and love to be on the cutting edge.  I think that there will be a significant number of people who are of like mind that will find themselves checking MSN 8 out, as a way to expand how they use the internet.  Time will tell that tale.

MSN 8 resoundingly trounces any previous version of MSN 8, is a no-brainer upgrade for current subscribers, and finally opens the door to the future of software-powered, web-enabled internet services in a big way.  Look out AOL.