You guys really think this is a nice design? Meh. I think the colors are really contrasting, and the American-style MSN Entertainment is more aesthetically pleasing. I do like the little flippity card thing in the center of the Next site - I'm a sucker for visual effects.

I don't know why I had to create a new nickname and picture when I already had one, and it wouldn't even load up the picture adding thing. Also, the fact that the team can't make the rating tool on each article into one makes me doubt their AJAX skills.

I do like Kirill though. It is pretty neat, and original content isn't too bad, but I wish it wasn't just a seasonal thing, and could continue on for a year or two. The HD video on Kirill is something I wished MSN would learn to upgrade to on their video content.

Personally, I think there's better sites for getting news, at least in the US. The websites and articles on MSN have always been traditionally bland and boring, and it's going to be hard to try going back to MSN after associating it with the old web. I think they could use more HD content, professional weblogs (offers more personality and interesting to read, AOL does this), and a better design would make MSN more likeable to my generation.