| Microsoft Corp. says that the next version of its | | | | that users can subscribe to, like a weekly run-down of |
| Windows operating system will have built-in support for | | | | chart-topping songs or an online gift registry. |
| RSS, an increasingly popular way to get news and | | | | Microsoft will make the list extensions technology |
| other information channeled straight to a computer. | | | | available for free through a "creative commons" |
| RSS, short for Really Simple Syndication, hasn't broken | | | | license, which lets the company retain some intellectual |
| into widespread use yet, but the world's largest | | | | property rights while encouraging broader use of the |
| software maker believes it will become a mainstay. | | | | technology. |
| "We really believe that RSS is key to how people will | | | | Joe Wilcox, an analyst with Jupiter Research, said |
| be using the Internet in the future," said Megan Kidd, a | | | | Microsoft's foray into RSS is reminiscent of its rush to |
| Windows product manager. | | | | capture its share of the burgeoning Web browser |
| In the long-delayed Windows upgrade, code-named | | | | market in the mid-1990s. |
| Vista and expected to be released late next year, an | | | | "With the World Wide Web, we had this vast |
| RSS icon will appear in the Internet Explorer Web | | | | informational system that came along where Windows |
| browser to make it easy for people to find, much like | | | | was not required," Wilcox said. "That posed a |
| Apple Computer Inc. has done with its Safari browser. | | | | potentially serious threat to Microsoft's Windows |
| Vista will store all data downloaded to a computer via | | | | franchise. They responded by making Internet Explorer |
| RSS in a single place. It will maintain a central list of all | | | | part of the operating system." |
| of a computer user's RSS subscriptions, from Web log | | | | Microsoft may argue that its RSS push is about |
| entries to photos pulled from an online family picture | | | | improving technology for developers, content providers |
| gallery. | | | | and consumers, Wilcox said, but "it's also, I believe, |
| It will include a feature called simple list extensions that | | | | responding to a potential competitive threat. |
| will let Web sites use RSS to publish lists of content | | | | |