MSN Video is beta testing a next-gen version billed as cross-platform and multi-browser including Mozilla and Firefox with Flash. It owes a lot to the look and feel of user-gen site Soapbox on MSN Video (now closed to new users until IP technology is in place) and that’s no accident. The design, the features, the layout are meant to take their cue from Soapbox, which is slicker and more appealing in many respects than the present iteration of MSN Video. Videos can be searched, tagged and opened to full screen without interruption. For those who need a refresher course. MS Video is the site for licensed and original programming.

The beta comes on the heels of the relaunch of MSN Entertainment. In addition to design, changes there include a new TV-show database covering more than 1 million episodes and over 175,000 series and localized info for movies and TV shows.
—Advertisers can buy “skins” on MSN Entertainment and can buy across all of the entertainment properties at once.