Microsoft has launched a new look for its homepage, with better navigation and a stylish design.

Microsoft.com is the fifth most visited site on the Web and has several hundred thousand pages of content.

The new design aims to make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for by giving prominence to the most popular tasks, products and services.

Microsoft have been testing the new design since the beginning of 2006 and used feedback from testers to make the site more streamlined, with new interactive menus and navigation.

The main menu now appears on the right of the site, and clicking a menu link brings up a pop-up window with links to relevant pages.

The new design uses a technology known as Ajax, which allows new content to appear within the same page when it is requested by the user.

Microsoft homepage