Discovering and Subscribing to RSS Feeds

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a technology with which Web sites and blogs can send information to you, so that you don't have to visit the site. You can subscribe to an RSS feed from any site that offers one. Although RSS is a recent technology, RSS feeds are available for thousands of Web sites.

In the past, you had to install a newsreader program on your computer to subscribe to and view RSS feeds. Now you can subscribe to feeds directly from Internet Explorer 7. When you visit a site that has one or more RSS feeds, the RSS button on the Command bar becomes active (orange). You can click the button to view the default feed, or click the RSS arrow to display a list of feeds available from the site. You can also choose to have Internet Explorer play an audio alert when it finds an available feed on a Web page.

Web-based newsreaders and many other sites, such as the MSN Syndicated Content (RSS) Directory at rss.msn.com offer directories of RSS feeds. You simply click the link next to a site you like to subscribe to it.

Subscribing to an RSS feed adds it to the Feeds page of your Internet Explorer Favorites Center. You can return to it at any time to view up-to-date article synopses, and click any headline that interests you to display the article. RSS feeds can include the publisher's recommendation for how often subscribers will receive updates. You can stipulate the minimum update frequency for the feeds you subscribe to from Internet Explorer 7. To control the feed settings, display the Content tab of the Internet Options dialog box, and then in the Feeds area, click Settings.

Your Favorites Center is available to you only on the computer it is stored on. If you want to access your newsfeeds from any computer, you can connect to a Web-based newsreader such as one of the following:

• My MSN, a home page you can personalize with the elements you want to see when you start your Web browser, accepts RSS feeds. To use this site, you need to register an e-mail address as a .NET Passport or Windows Live ID. (You might already have done this for another purpose.) For more information, visit

  my.msn.com

• Google Reader displays all your RSS feeds without all the extra information that might be on your My MSN page. To use this reader, you need a Google account. For more information, visit

  www.google.com/reader/

• My Yahoo! also supports RSS feeds. To use this reader, you need a Yahoo! account. For more information, visit

  my.yahoo.com

  Web-based RSS readers do not require that you install any software on your computer. To locate other readers, search the Internet for RSS reader.