Moonwatcher - Scoble: MS a Platform for RSS Apps (from: PubSub: Scoble)
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Weblog: MoonwatcherSource: Scoble: MS a Platform for RSS Apps
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Redmond’s chief blogger points to RSS innovation on the Windows platform, but for once, Microsoft may be thinking too small.
Robert Scoble responded to the Houston Chronicle’s charge that Microsoft is MIA on RSS:
But, there’s another way to look at it. We’ve built a platform that lets developers add value. There are a TON of RSS news aggregators on Windows.Scoble is right, and in fact may be inderselling his company’s position. Microsoft makes not only Windows, but also productivity applications like Outlook and enterprise servers like Exchange, both of which are platforms in their own right.
NewsGator (the company for which I work) for makes the most popular RSS reader for Outlook, which Scoble himself uses. And this summer, we’re releasing NewsGator Enterprise Edition (NGEE), which leverages the Windows Server System, including Exchange Server, SQL Server, and Windows Server itself, to enable enterprise deployment of RSS.
At a technical level, there are many reasons to build RSS aggregation on top of a platform layer above that of the OS. NewsGator Outlook Edition leverages much of Outlook’s user interface and data storage. Similarly, NGEE leverages server system infrastructure like message queues, data storage and indexing, web scripting, and the powerful message delivery machinery in Exchange. (If you haven’t seen RSS aggregation in OWA, drop me a line. It rocks.)
But maybe more importantly, building RSS aggregation into these higher-level platforms makes life easier for users and IT administrators. Users aren’t forced to learn a new UI, rather they’re provided extra functionality in the tools they already use. And with NGEE, IT administrators give users what they want while retaining centralized control, all without deploying client software.
So while the Houston Chronicle may think Microsoft is asleep at the RSS wheel, one could argue that they in fact have the broadest, deepest support for RSS of any company on the planet.