Microsoft to Deliver RSS Support to End Users

Microsoft Corp. today announced support for RSS (Really Simple Syndication) in the next version of the Microsoft® Windows® operating system, code-named “Longhorn.” The RSS functionality in “Longhorn” is being designed to make it simple for end users to discover, view and subscribe to RSS feeds, as well as make it easier for developers to incorporate the rich capabilities of RSS into their applications.

“RSS is key to how people will use the Internet in the future by automatically delivering the information that is important to them,” said Dean Hachamovitch, general manager for “Longhorn” browsing and RSS at Microsoft.

Microsoft is integrating RSS features throughout “Longhorn” to enable a broad group of users and developers to more easily take advantage of RSS. For instance, while browsing the Web, “Longhorn” users will be able to easily discover RSS feeds through an illuminated icon, as well as read the feed while still in the Web browser. In addition, users will be able to subscribe to an RSS feed as simply as adding a Web site to their “favorites.”

The RSS features in the Windows “Longhorn” platform also will enable application developers to easily harness the capabilities of RSS in their applications. For example, business users about to attend a conference could subscribe to the conference’s event calendar.

The RSS support in the “Longhorn” platform includes the following: Common RSS Feed List, Common RSS Data Store and RSS Platform Sync Engine.

Microsoft has developed the Simple List Extensions, a set of enhancements to RSS to help Web sites publish lists of content that users can subscribe to, such as top 10 songs from a music site, a wish list from an online retailer or a user’s ranking of favorite restaurants.

Microsoft is making the Simple List Extensions freely available to the community under the Creative Commons share-alike attribution license, the same structure that was used for the RSS 2.0 specification.

“We salute Microsoft’s decision to license its Simple List Extensions via Creative Commons, which offers creators a way to both protect their work and to encourage broad uses of them,” said Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of Creative Commons.