If you haven't already seen the 1000s of posts out there, Microsoft has just beta launched its YouTube competitor dubbed MSN SoapBox. Unfortunately, their beta list is already full so I don't know too much about it other than what is floating on the web.
Using Soapbox, you will be able to upload any major format and have it automatically converted to windows media and flash format for delivery. Users will also be able to embed the video player on their site, tag, categorize and share them with their friends. I haven't seen anything mind-blowing about SoapBox nor have they commented on how they intend to deal with copyright issues that have plagued YouTube. They don't limit your videos to a certain length (like on YouTube unless you are a director) and only enforce a 100 mb size limit per video.
A Microsoft employee and SoapBox tester, Kurt Shintaku has posted more on his blog mostly touting their optimal bandwidth delivery and the use of the Windows Media 9 codec (yes, we know you are Microsoft) which in the end, doesn't really equate to value for the end-user. It's great you're streaming videos but as Mack and I have discussed yesterday while at Denny's, YouTube proved that you really don't need to stream videos. Our connection speeds are already at the point where a video can be quickly downloaded and with fibre optics already expanding into our homes, the issue of download speed with become negligible. The advantage, however, is that you will be able to seek within a video without downloading the entire video file.
I really hope I get a beta invite soon. With integration into their other products like Live Spaces, I'm sure MSN SoapBox will quickly become a YouTube competitor.
Caveat: I'm working on a podcast hosting service that will also allow sharing of video (and audio). Keep your eyes open as it shall be launched within a few days!
soapbox microsoft videos web 2.0