PC Magazine Online columnist Lance Ulanoff says he's seen the movie before - Microsoft will swallow RSS. He compares Microsoft's embrace of RSS to that of integrated memory in DOS and the Internet in Windows. Lance writes...
"It isn't hard to figure out what happens next in the Longhorn-IE-RSS scenario. IE 7 will launch later this year, and Longhorn will finally arrive in 2006(?), both sporting easy-to-use, seamlessly integrated RSS capabilities. The whole industry, including competitors, will cheer. Then they'll have this pang, a flash of déjà vu, and wonder what hit them."
Part of me says Lance is right and another says he's wrong. I do think Microsoft has a motive here beyond just serving users. They want to protect the Windows franchise. On the other hand, they appear to be more open in soliciting feedback from developers rather than writing sweeping Pearl Harbor memos. That's corporate change at work.
Microsoft Warm and Fuzzies Exhibit A: Microsoft Start. Microsoft's test AJAX-based aggregator. Today the development team released a new version via blog. That tells me Microsoft is open to feedback. Even if they wanted to, Microsoft today may not be able to pull off embrace and extend the sequel. That's my feeling. The alternative view Lance takes is that Microsoft is wearing a mask to hide its true ambitions. This time, however, they have millions of bloggers to contend with. They weren't around back in 1995.
