Microsoft Corp. says that the next version of its Windows operating system will have built-in support for RSS, an increasingly popular way to get news and other information channeled straight to a computer.

RSS, short for Really Simple Syndication, hasn't broken into widespread use yet, but the world's largest software maker believes it will become a mainstay. "We really believe that RSS is key to how people will be using the Internet in the future," said Megan Kidd, a Windows product manager.

In the long-delayed Windows upgrade, code-named Vista and expected to be released late next year, an RSS icon will appear in the Internet Explorer Web browser to make it easy for people to find, much like Apple Computer Inc. has done with its Safari browser.

Vista will store all data downloaded to a computer via RSS in a single place. It will maintain a central list of all of a computer user's RSS subscriptions, from Web log entries to photos pulled from an online family picture gallery.

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