Microsoft Plans New On-Line Service

Microsoft Corp. is taking another step into the production of content for the Internet with plans for an on-line entertainment service.

Offering localized as well as national reviews and features, the venture has been code-named Cityscape but will be marketed under another name because that one’s taken.

The Seattle prototype will get under way early next year. By mid-1997, the service is to be available in San Francisco, Boston and New York, said Gayle Troberman, Microsoft spokeswoman for the project.

The service, being formally announced Tuesday, will be provided without charge on the Internet, Microsoft spokeswoman Nina Bondarook said Monday.

“Anyone who uses a major browser on the World Wide Web can get into it,” she said.

Classified advertising had been considered as a part of Cityscape, but those plans have been dropped due to resistance and lack of interest from newspapers, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.