C/Net.com - Microsoft Clips Windows XP Smart Tags (Jun. 27/01)
(The following
articles have been archived for both instructional and referential purposes.
To read the full articles please follow the links to the source located at the
bottom.)
Microsoft clips windows XP smart tags
By Scott Ard and Steven Musil June 27, 2001
Microsoft has decided to exclude Smart Tags--a technology
that could alter the Web-surfing habits of millions of consumers--from the version
of Windows XP that will ship later this year.
As first reported by CNET News.com, the Redmond, Wash.-based company included
Smart Tags in the most recent test versions of Windows XP, an upgrade to the
Windows operating system. But a company spokesman said Wednesday that the technology
will not be included in the final version that will be released Oct. 25.
With Smart Tags, Microsoft can link any word on a Web page to
another site chosen by the company. For example, if a person were reading a
story about traveling, the word "airline" could include a link that
would divert the reader to an airline or travel service chosen by Microsoft.
Although the Smart Tags feature was included in Internet Explorer
6, the Web browser that is bundled with current beta versions of Windows XP,
it will be dropped from the final product.
"At this time we just don't believe it's going to be ready
when (Windows XP) ships in October," Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said
late Wednesday. "External feedback" was one of the factors that led
the company to remove the feature, although he indicated it could be resurrected
in later versions.
Cullinan also emphasized that Smart Tags remains a feature of
Office XP, the upgrade to Microsoft's suite of applications that launched May
31.
Smart Tags, which are created using XML (Extensible Markup Language),
could have strengthened Microsoft's ability to tie its newest applications and
operating systems to its own Web sites or others that it favors, including those
that charge fees.
The feature makes disparate bits of data available within Office
programs or from Web pages. A Smart Tag pull-down menu attached to a stock ticker,
say, in Excel 2002 or Internet Explorer 6, might lead to the MSN MoneyCentral
Web site for the latest share price.
Critics accused the company of reverting to old tactics by loading
Windows XP with features such as Smart Tags, which gives Microsoft some greater
control over consumers' Internet use. Windows is the operating system on roughly
92 percent of all personal computers around the world.
