MSNBC is no more as Microsoft and American network NBC News formally severed their business ties, which more than a decade ago cost the software giant $US220 million for a 50 percent stake on the online news site.

The divorce, according to The Associated Press, was amicable, with Microsoft viewing the development as an opportunity to further diversify its operations, this time delving on the delivery of digital contents without having to consider the say of an equal partner.

Now, Microsoft will be the captain of the ship called MSN.Com, according to its operations chief Bob Visse.

"Being limited to MSNBC.com content was problematic to us because we couldn't have the multiple news sources and the multiple perspectives that our users were telling us that they wanted," Mr Visse told AP.

His feelings were shared by NBC News' Vivian Schiller, who confirmed that Microsoft and the new portal site taking their separate ways was "really an amicable breakup."

"There is no question that we are going to have more flexibility to make our own decisions ... We think competition will make us better," Ms Schiller told AP.

The monumental split means that Microsoft and NBC will have to edge out each other in luring the estimated 50 million U.S. visitors that frequented MSNBC as of the end of June this year, based on figures provided by ComScore.

Microsoft said it plans to do just that - further beef up what has been accomplished so far by MSN by acquiring new talents that would perform the similar tasks when union was first formalised 15 years ago.

But not on Microsoft's crosshair is to sustain the $US10 billion losses it has absorbed in the past seven years on its attempts to pick up on the online operations gains that delivered billions to internet pioneers.

The break up was indeed cordial for both parties that Microsoft has agreed not to kick out, not yet at least, NBC's staff from its Redmond, Washington base, AP said.

The news agency noted too that NBC intends to maintain a presence in Seattle and Microsoft has been helpful by allowing the news firm to scout for a new office in the area before it moves out its staff from the old MSNBC quarters.

Microsoft's new move, analysts believed, was integral with its ongoing adjustments that could soon make the company as diversified player in the tech world, departing from its sole focus of providing operating systems and productivity suites.

Over the past two years, Microsoft has been overhauling its business by ramping up the cross capabilities of its new operating system, the Windows 8, which the software giant said will power 500 million devices over the next few years.

Microsoft aims to be present not only on traditional PCs but also on tablet computers and smartphones while in the same vein become a major player on key fields where global consumers use their mobile computing devices.

Foremost on its sight, analysts said, is social media, which explains the main reason why Microsoft would want to wield exclusive hold on MSN.

The company also bought Skype last year for $US8.5 billion, which experts said, it plans to use in order to gain considerable headways in the social networking realm, which it initially did by allowing the call and chat software to be integrated by Facebook on its popular site.