Rumours that Microsoft will be updating its Live Search offering and renaming it Kumo have been emerging for over a year, but the firm has now leaked the most substantial evidence yet.

Satya Nadella, senior vice president of research and development for Microsoft's online services division, sent an email to staff on Monday informing them of the changes, with a sample screenshot of the new Kumo.com. The email was seen by CNET.

Nadella explained that Kumo was "the codename we have chosen for the internal test". Kumo.com will be run as a test programme internally at Microsoft, and Nadella said that he is looking for feedback from his team.

Outsiders attempting to visit Kumo.com are currently greeted with an 'Access Denied' message.

The changes to Microsoft's search product are designed to make it easier for users to find what they need, according to Nadella, and will help them accomplish "tasks" as well as carry out searches.

"You will see results organised in a way that saves you more time," he said. "An explorer pane on the left side of results pages will give you access to tools that help you with your tasks. Other features, like single session history and hover preview, help accomplish more in search sessions."

The email leak to the press comes a day after a Microsoft executive announced the new features on a Twitter update seen by the LiveSide blog.