Longhorn will include support for RSS data feeds

Microsoft Corp. said Friday that the next version of its Windows operating system Longhorn will have built-in support for RSS, short for Really Simple Syndication, an increasingly popular way to get news and other information channeled straight to a computer, reports Associated Press.

In the long-delayed Windows upgrade, code-named Longhorn and expected to be released late next year, an RSS icon will appear in the Internet Explorer 7 Web browser, which will be released with Longhorn.

Joe Wilcox, an analyst with Jupiter Research, cited by AP, said Microsoft's foray into RSS is reminiscent of its rush to capture its share of the burgeoning Web browser market in the mid-1990s. They responded then by making Internet Explorer part of the operating system.

Having RSS built into Longhorn could pose a serious threat to companies that sell RSS readers that siphon data from the Internet. But some experts argue, according to AP, that it will only enable more developers to create more readers: “After Microsoft Microsoft has done a lot of the "heavy lifting" so software developers can focus on creating useful applications for RSS rather than the "baseline plumping" of the feeds themselves”.