Microsoft has launched user-generated video content area Soapbox, in beta, on the MSN Video site.

Microsoft's Soapbox on MSN Video site aims to challenge not only YouTube, which has become synonymous with viral and user-generated video, but also Google Video, Yahoo Video and Revver, reports CNET. Codenamed Warhol, Soapbox on MSN Video will have no ads, at least for now, but Microsoft may monetize videos by showing them on the MSN Video site or creating a "viral video hub," Rob Bennett, general manager of entertainment and video services at Microsoft, is quoted as saying.

Users will be able to watch videos together via Windows Live Messenger, and Windows Live Spaces users will be able to link their videos to their profiles and control who can watch them, reports Media Post.

Users can rate, comment on and tag videos, create RSS feeds, share links and embed the Soapbox player in their own sites or blogs. There's a 100-megabyte upload limit, but none on video length or number of videos users can upload; videos can be full-screen size.