Looks like Redmond has the interns on xerox duty again. Microsoft has just announced MicrosoftMax, a codename project that looks to be taking on both Google and Apple. The main component of MicrosoftMax is a desktop news aggregator featuring MSN Filter with similar functionality to Google Homepage or NetVibes. A secondary piece of the software package is a photo organizer which looks to be a Microsoft version of iPhoto. Not much else is known about the package, including whether the final product will be free of charge or a pay-for add on.
One thing I find compelling about Max is the fact that it displays news items in a newspaper layout; something that other news readers have been trying to do successfully for a while now.
MicrosoftMax is available as a free beta download and requires Windows XP or MediaCenter with SP2 or higher.