Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, is a format that has been offered for years in places like weblogs (or "blogs") and news sites, but much of the public has little to no knowledge of the technology. According to an article at eWeek, Apple Computeris upcoming Safari RSS seeks to change all of that. The browser will display an icon if a site features an RSS feed, and allows the user to seamlessly subscribe to the feed. The article also looks at the state of RSS in other browsers such as Opera, Firefox, and even Internet Explorer. From eWeek:

The browser makers are all taking various approaches to incorporating feeds into the browser. Opera, of Oslo, Norway, has added RSS support within its mail application, handling feeds like e-mail messages. The browser also can detect pages with feeds, and users can click a siteis XML icon to automatically subscribe.

Mozilla, based in Mountain View, Calif., plans to include its news feed support with the beta release of Firefox 1.0 in about six weeks, Goodger said. The new feature will let users save and organize feeds within the browseris bookmarks, which will display an updated list of feed items. Firefox also will display an icon or prompt to indicate that a Web page has an available feed, Goodger said.

"This builds RSS right into browser and access to it right where you discover it," Goodger said.

Web browsers moving into the RSS aggregation arena raises the possibility of them replacing standalone news readers, an issue that was gaining the attention of a range of Webloggers on Monday. Syndication technology has found much of its earliest converts among bloggers.

One of the major readers for the Mac, NetNewsWire, appears to be ready for Safariis entry in the market. Developer Brent Simmons wrote in his blog Monday that development will continue on NetNewsWire and noted that Safari doesniti appear to be as fully featured as a full reader.

You can read the full article at eWeekis web site.