Based on user feedback and a lot of hard work from team, we have launched some improvements to the Live.com beta tonight.

Our goals are to deliver a product that provides users with a great search experience, a personalized homepage that puts the user in control of their experience, and a central place to access Windows Live services.

With tonight’s release, we have made some improvements driving towards each of the above goals:

-          We have simplified our first run experience to provide a fast and straight-forward experience for users that are interested in a search-focused page, as well as the option for users to personalize their homepage or learn more about Windows Live services.  (note: existing live.com users can’t see this page unless you click ‘start over’ while signed in or if you sign out – we’re working on making this more accessible to everyone)

-          We have heard that users want a personalized homepage that is easier to set up, so we are also introducing a new customization step to help users personalize their Live.com homepage. Users can now choose from 5 templates to quickly get started with a few interesting pages right away (including a world cup template!)

      Exsiting users, go to http://www.live.com/getstarted to add template to your page.

-          You’ll also note some look and feel improvements with a new logo, improved themes, header and page treatments that make the page more visually appealing.

Let us know what you think!