Originally named The Microsoft Network, it debuted as a proprietary online service on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of Windows 95.

Microsoft renamed the service MSN Internet Access in 1998, focusing its main 'MSN' brand on its web portal of the same name, MSN.com.

[2][3] Along with dial-up service, MSN provides its subscribers with an @msn.com email account to use with Outlook.com and security software such as firewall and anti-virus programs.

Product support and discussion was offered through the MSN service, as well as information such as news and weather, basic email capabilities, chat rooms, and message boards similar to newsgroups.

Following Bill Gates' internal 'Internet Tidal Wave memo', which refocused Microsoft to be Internet-centric, MSN began to move its content to the web and promote itself more actively as an Internet service provider.

[11] A handful of uncredited actors appeared in the MSN Preview, including then-unknown actress Anna Faris,[13][14] who represented 'Channel 5', which was described as "media, zines, attitude"; it was targeted at Generation X and college-age members.

These channels included new services that launched in 1996 such as msnbc.com, a news website now known as NBCNews.com that began as a partnership between Microsoft and NBC; and Slate, an online magazine focused on politics and current events.

Interactive multimedia content was presented in a TV-like format, dubbed MSN shows, as part of the 'On Stage' section.

[9] The new content made extensive use of multimedia and interactive features, including VBScript and early implementations of Macromedia Shockwave Flash (originally called 'FutureSplash') for animations.

[17] While the MSN shows approach was unique and innovative, the content was not easily accessible by members with low-end computers and slower dial-up connections.

As a result of all these issues, a website called 'The Official msNOT Hate Site'[19] originated as a negative response to the new MSN 2.0 software.

The website claimed Microsoft patently ignored feedback from concerned members and censored anyone who spoke out against the upgrade; it further charged the company's handling of the transition to MSN 2.0 was "insensitive and ethically questionable.

[20] The website also mocked the music loop that played during the MSN 2.0 installation process because it repeated the phrase "too stupid to stop.

"[15] Ultimately, the ambitious use of web-based and interactive multimedia content on the Internet during 1996 and 1997 proved to be ahead of its time, and the MSN 2.0 service was not as successful as Microsoft initially hoped.

MSN Explorer provided a user interface for navigating one's @msn.com email inbox and folders, also known as 'MSN Mail', until the migration of Hotmail to the Windows Live brand.

The user interface for MSN Explorer matched the visual style of Windows XP and utilized relatively responsive animations that would not become commonplace in web browsers until HTML5 came along several years later.

Microsoft began referring to the MSN Explorer software as simply 'MSN' beginning with version 7, an update that was rolled out shortly after the initial release of Windows XP.

Microsoft halted development of the free edition of the software in 2002 in favor of a version only available with MSN dial-up and premium subscriptions.

Features included full compatibility with Internet Explorer 8, an integrated spell checker, and the ability to exclude MSN Messenger from the installation.

The software still included an instant messaging client based on Microsoft's Messenger service, even though it had been phased out in favor of Skype since 2013.

The software was, in some respects, comparable to the AOL dial-up client given its channel-based interface, built-in chat and instant messaging capabilities, parental controls, and ability to accommodate multiple screen names.

[30] In Italy the sign-up was done through an 800- (toll-free) phone number which assigned to the user PC an internal IP address of SITA-NET (Société internationale de télécommunication aéronautique), in the IP range 57.0.0.0/8, giving the user access to all of the SITA network equipment (so, not only the SITA-managed server involved in the MSN account registration process).

[32][33] In the past, Premium could be obtained by American customers by acquiring DSL through one of MSN's partners, such as Verizon or Qwest (now merged with CenturyLink) in the United States or Bell Internet in Canada.