For a technology that is heralded as being REALLY simple – RSS has been anything but. The adoption of RSS will dramatically be impacted when Microsoft releases their next version of Internet Explorer – and with their upcoming launch of the VISTA OS.

Author:
George Assimakopoulos

Managing Director

For a technology that is heralded as being REALLY simple – RSS has been anything but. Many of my clients want to know when RSS will become more mainstream. I tell them that the adoption of RSS will dramatically be impacted when Microsoft releases their next version of Internet Explorer – and with their upcoming launch of the VISTA operating system.

With previous versions of IE, it’s pretty tough to know when a web page has an RSS web feed available. However, with IE 7 due to be released this winter, the header of the web page is scanned to see if the publisher has associated a web feed with that page. If a web feed is found, the web feed button on the toolbar lights up. In addition, the user can configure a sound to play when a feed is found, and the same of list of feeds associated with the page can be found under the Tools menu. With IE 7, the browser will detect when a page is really a web feed, and it will display a view of the feed that’s much easier to read. Users can even add the web feed as a favorite for quick access, right from the page.

In addition, the new Microsoft operating system – VISTA – scheduled to be released in early 2007 will have RSS built into all desktop applications. Similar to how we get notified in Outlook when new e-mail arrives – so will be the same for blog feeds and podcasts that we choose to be kept informed about. This will change the way that we communicate content to others – and how advertisers will communicate to us. Brace yourselves…Microsoft is REALLY trying to make RSS simple. Just like e-mail is today – RSS will become part of our everyday (online) lives.