The Redmond-based company will make a specification for Simple List Extensions available under the existing RSS license.
The forthcoming, long-awaited, somewhat delayed update to the Windows operating system will arrive with support for RSS on board. This support will allow application developers to integrate RSS with their products.
Based on comments in the IE developers’ blog on MSDN, Microsoft will be among the first application developers to do so.
“For example, a business user about to attend a conference could subscribe to the conference’s event calendar. He can then use a Longhorn RSS-enabled calendar application to view the events in the RSS feed from within his calendar app,” reads the announcement.
Since Outlook supports calendaring, implementing RSS for it would be in line with the synchronization described above.
And, Internet Explorer 7 will have greater support for RSS. Users will be able to read an RSS feed within the browser, instead of needing a separate application to do so. Currently in IE 6, clicking an RSS feed returns the raw XML document in the browser window.
The expanded support in IE7 will enable a one-click feature, where a user can identify and subscribe to a RSS feed listed on a site with just a single mouse click.
Another supported feature will be a new specification developed by Microsoft. This RSS extension, called Simple List Extensions, will be released under the same Creative Commons license as RSS.
A list in this context means an ordered group of items. They could be photos or podcasts or basic text items like recipes. Microsoft says the purpose of the Extensions will be to allow the publisher to more clearly describe its intent to the client application. This will let the application present a more accurate and useful feed to the user.
RSS has been receiving a lot of hype, most recently at the Gnomedex conference in Seattle where Microsoft announced its forthcoming RSS support. For everyone else who has been wondering about RSS, here’s the most simple, straightforward description one might find, from an end-user perspective: glorified bookmarks.
An easy way to see RSS in action is to get a free Rocket RSS Reader account online and explore the feeds.
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
