Microsoft Revamps Its MSN ServiceMicrosoft Revamps Its MSN Service

NEW YORK (AP) -- Targeting the growing number of households with high-speed Internet connections, Microsoft Corp. announced a revamped MSN service Wednesday with more photo, video and security features. The company also created a limited MSN Plus service for $5.95 a month. Users get one e-mail address, compared with 11 under the standard $9.95 broadband service, now called MSN Premium. In both cases, subscribers must obtain Internet access separately.

MSN using dial-up access remains at $21.95 and now comes with acceleration software for better compressing data over phone lines, matching offerings from America Online, EarthLink and others.

The Premium and dial-up services promise to more efficiently transmit photos. Instead of sending images entirely as e-mail attachments, potentially clogging recipients' dial-up connections, MSN can automatically convert them to low-resolution thumbnails. Recipients can then obtain full images on request from MSN's servers.

MSN Premium also comes with free antivirus and firewall software from McAfee and some exclusive video content.

The announcement comes as AOL unveils a lower-cost dial-up service, branded Netscape after the once-popular Web browser that AOL acquired in 1999. Netscape will cost $9.95 a month, instead of the regular $23.90, and won't have the frills of the regular service, including "spyware" detection software announced this week.

Microsoft claims 8 million subscribers, though that includes those buying extra storage on Hotmail, and the company won't provide further breakdowns. AOL, the world's largest Internet service provider, has more than 32 million subscribers, including nearly 3 million on broadband.