Yahoo is preparing a makeover of several popular sections of its Web site, including its home page, over the next few months.

This will be Yahoo’s first major redesign of its home page since May 2006.

According to Yahoo the changes will enable Yahoo users to plant more mini applications, “widgets” on personalized versions of the home page, said Ash Patel, executive vice president of the company’s audience product division.

In a demonstration, Patel showed how Yahoo users subscribing to the online DVD rental service Netflix will soon be able to review their latest movie requests and ratings without leaving Yahoo’s main page.

Yahoo is hosting a conference for outside developers Friday in hopes of cultivating more applications for its new home page.

Patel declined to specify when the redesigned page will be unveiled, saying only that it will begin gradually within the next few months. “You will see a rolling thunder kind of thing,” Patel said.

Yahoo also plans to open up its music section to rival services like Apple Inc.’s iTunes and Amazon.com Inc. during the next few weeks, said Scott Moore, who runs Yahoo’s media operations. Moore said Yahoo’s news section also will feature more local content from newspapers around the nation.