It's been a good week for public launches of beta projects. First Google drops the invite system and opens up Gmail to the public (even though everyone and their grandmother already had an account), and now Microsoft has moved Soapbox from a private beta to a public beta.

If you haven't been paying attention, Soapbox is Microsoft's entry into the crowded user-generated video market. I'd imagine it'll have some muscle, because it's Microsoft, but it doesn't really have much to offer that you can't get from YouTube, Stage6, or any number of other video sharing sites. In fact, many of the videos you can find are readily available on other sites.

One thing that does set Soapbox apart from other services is that you can search, browse, and comment on videos without interrupting the video that you're currently watching.

[via NewTeeVee]