Peter Griffin: A real feed in new Windows

The Microsoft camp has a hard time grabbing the IT headlines these days, with trendier tech companies like Google and Mozilla seemingly coming up with all the good ideas.

Still, Microsoft is building up to the launch next year of its next Windows platform, code-named Longhorn, and already the signs are that it will be a big advance on the current Windows XP platform.

The latest information on Longhorn indicates it will incorporate a peculiar web technology known as RSS, or really simple syndication.

RSS is now used by thousands of news websites and weblogs to push out updates to users without them having to visit the website.

Users instead flock to so-called RSS aggregators like Sharpreader and Newsgator. These sites gather feeds from the websites you want to keep tabs on, delivering lists of news headlines and website updates all in one place.

I use Bloglines, which I log into daily to check the latest updates at my favourite news sites and weblogs. Rarely do I surf directly to those sites any more. I let Bloglines do the work for me, gathering new feeds as they are posted to the various sites. It's fundamentally changed the way I use the internet.

Any news site that attracts a large amount of web traffic is likely to support RSS feeds. Browse your favourite sites to look for RSS compatibility or browse the lists of RSS sites put together by the aggregators.

I can see this being a fantastic part of the next Windows environment. Maybe RSS will feed directly into Windows programmes such as the Office suite of Word, Excel and Outlook, giving access to important information directly through Windows rather than Internet Explorer. Your favourite feeds could exist on the Windows desktop, changing as they are updated on the internet.

Microsoft says it does not want to trample on the toes of Bloglines and its compatriots. But RSS in Longhorn is bound to give them a run for their money.

Microsoft says Internet Explorer 7, the next version of its popular web browser, will have a button allowing one-touch RSS subscription. Competitors like Firefox have already built the function into their browsers.

But RSS support in Longhorn implies a much deeper support of the standard, one that extends beyond the web browser.

Software developers will be able to embed RSS capabilities into Windows-based programs. Who knows exactly what that will mean, but think of any situation where you have to go out on to the web to check for new information regularly. Now the information will come to you. I can see web surfing becoming a lot less time-consuming, a lot more productive and, ironically, a lot less centred on the web browser.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY