Microsoft's RSS Announcement
I'm sure most of you have heard about how Microsoft is integrating RSS into IE 7 and Longhorn. They're also adding an extention to RSS - the ability to create lists. I really like RSS (and ATOM, for that matter). I think it's just one of those simple ideas that makes so much sense (it's usually the simple ones that do). And I'm excited about Microsoft embracing it and piping it into Windows. At the same time, should we be a bit apprehensive? Is Microsoft doing to RSS what it did with HTML? Well, Microsoft is pegging a lot on RSS. Looking forward, they believe, there will be browsing, search, and subscriptions when it comes to the internet. Microsoft has invested a lot fighting Google over search, so it's no surprise that they're trying to get an early (well, earlier) start on subscriptions.
This is where I'm torn. I'm just not sure how I feel about Microsoft tinkering with RSS. They may add a bunch of proprietary options to tie the RSS technology (and, as the conspiracy goes, all subscriptions... which will be a huge thing in the coming years) to Windows. At the same time, is that necessarily a bad thing? If they embrace it and extend it in ways that the community can't, are we worse off? I think it could be a great thing for the technology, especially if they keep the underpinnings open. What do you guys think?