I remember with chills the ideas and implications running through my head when Microsoft stood on stage a few Gnomedexes ago and declared that “Longhorn Hearts RSS.” Everything in Longhorn was gonna have the RSS in the backend - the next IE, the next Media Player, the next Outlook - it will all be there.

I still have the jacket - it’s a great jacket.

One of the first MOLs was on the whole “Surf / Search / Subsribe” mantra. I thought it was brilliant. It’s also on the jacket.

I mean - think about it. I’m surfing around - I find a great Podcast I want to listen to. I click on a link - I’m subscribed and it all syncs on my Plays For Sure device (or my Windows Mobile Device). The cycle would be complete - and how appropriate that Internet “Explorer” helps me find all the good stuff that the Internet provides while Media Player plays the media I found while exploring. That’s the seamless Windows Experience we’re all looking for.

Man, that Longhorn sure sounded like the obvious next step in evolution of my computer - and that jacket was so cool.

So, IE7 get’s pushed out very soon. Kudos to Microsoft for not making it a Longhorn only (oh, it’s Vista now) requirement. It’s a decent upgrade - but honestly has nothing that exciting in it.

And the reviews are, well, lukewarm at best. I’ve been playing with the Beta (when I’m on a PC) and I just like Firefox better. BTW, Firefox has not Podcatcher either I realize that - such is why I was so excited that Microsoft would take leadership in this space.

I heard numerous times at Podcast Expo about how IE7 would help Podcasting.

It won’t. Sure, technically it could be patched together to resemble something with less functionality than v1 of the iPodder Lemon.

If anything, it will only aggravate potential Podcasts consumers.

Yeah, that’s what we need …

But hey, the jacket was cool.

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