Yahoo has lifted the curtain on its new homepage, which has been rolled out in beta. The homepage has not only received a facelift but also a number of newfangled features, including the ability to keep pace with updates from your favorite websites without leaving Yahoo.

With social networking websites almost holding internet users captive for long periods of time, the new Yahoo homepage will let users have one eye on the latest from their friends on social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Other notable additions include the ability to customize the homepage using widgets and the introduction of a top ten search list just under the search bar.

But the launch has been far from smooth, as some users still haven’t encountered the option to try the new beta homepage. Yahoo is under considerable pressure from Microsoft’s latest search offering Bing, which is increasingly closing in on Yahoo in the online search market.