By Jim Forbes

Maybe all those critics were wrong. Maybe one-click access to an online service doesn't guarantee instant success.

Of course, the Micro-soft Network (MSN), launched in tandem with Windows 95 last August, hasn't exactly been suffering; early this spring, it signed up its one millionth subscriber. But with growing competition-America Online has 5.5 million members and counting-the service has also had to be shaken up.

Microsoft's goal with MSN is to make it a "content-rich environment and to make it a primary Internet connection," says Larry Cohen, lead product manager. The latter point is particularly important; up to 75 percent of subscribers use it primarily to cruise the World Wide Web.

That's why Microsoft wants to make MSN increasingly Web-centric. For instance, officials talk of having "integrated Web links" in material carried on MSN Today, allowing users to move more easily between the service and the Web. There are also plans to adopt emerging technologies such as tightly linked support for Internet phone, voice and conferencing services. Sources say the company will have some of these services by year's end.

Yet its biggest advantage may be its ability to leverage strategic alliances. For starters, MSN will feature content from the DreamWorks film studio. The service will also be a natural adjunct to MSNBC, the pending 24-hour cable-news offering. In fact, there will be a staff of editors on the Microsoft campus.