RSSVista's Graphical Power Shown with UniveRSS
By Ed Oswald | Published December 4, 2006, 3:55 PM
While many may have not understood exactly what the Windows Presentation Foundation meant for Vista, a new application from Microsoft to visualize RSS feeds may provide a glimpse into the future.
Several WPF features are shown off in the example, including 3D animation functionality, data binding and data visualization, While the current version uses the RSS folder in IE7, future versions would allow for feed management within the software
UniveRSS provides a method for users to display their RSS in a 3-D "universe." In this space, the "galaxies" represent the various folders, and the cubed-shaped "stars" represent each feed. Spinning these cubes would reveal the information contained within.
Furthermore, the size of these cubes also would give visual clues as to the number of unread items they contain. To identify each cube, the logo or feed picture of the site is used. To get the most out of UniveRSS, Microsoft recommends using feeds that include such information.
Navigation through the environment is much like a video game, Microsoft says. "Selecting items in lists will turn the cube to the next side displaying the item's content including images," it said. "Just click the right mouse buttons and you turn back to the list view or to the galaxy."
Microsoft recommends that UniveRSS only be installed on Windows Vista Premium-ready PCs to ensure the best experience. This would include a PC with a 1GHz or better processor, 1GB of RAM, and Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128 MB of graphics memory, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel.
Additional features are planned for the future. Among them are alternative methods to navigate the application, advanced search and sorting, integration with Microsoft's Live platform, and more customization options.
Those wishing to test out the application can download UniveRSS from FileForum.
niiiiiiiiice, an RSS reader that requres 1GB RAM.
DONT TRIP ON YOUR OWN BLOATWARE VISTA... hahaha
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Big deal. Any computer running Vista should have far more than a measly 1GB of RAM anyways.
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I find it just crazy that something as simple as an RSS reader can require (due to Vista requirements of course) a Gigabyte of RAM! I don't quite know what real efficiencies and value are coming with this. To me, it sounds like bloatware.
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something that requires a lot of ram isn't bloatware, it's just something that requires a lot of ram.
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WHICH, FOR BEING AN RSS READER, MAY BE MORE ACCURATELY DEFINED AS SH*TWARE! no matter what vista's reqs are.
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Actually, it's more an RSS reader than sh*tware. I don't even know what sh*tware is. Maybe some new fangled porn software?
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This is more to show off the capablities of WPF and Vista, not a good example of an RSS reader. People looking for an RSS reader should look elsewhere.
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"Vista's Graphical Power Shown with UniveRSS"? Runs quite fine on XP, thanks. (You need the .NET 3.0 Framework, as well as IE7.)
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WPF and XAML look pretty powerful, it'll be cool when development tools are made available (i.e. Orcas)
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You can download the Expression Studio CTPs and Betas right now.
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Doesn't this defeat the whole point of RSS — quick and simple? Oy.
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RSS is simple. Navigating all of the feeds one may be subscribed to, however, can be a PITA.
If this does what it says, and allows easy navigation to larger systems (feeds with the most unread articles), it could be useful.
Keyword: Could.
I'm not an RSS junkie. Just a recreational user....really. You can trust me...
Hey, buddy...got any RSS links?
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Simple Syndication, not simple viewing. It is designed for easily syndicating content, nothing about it's creation had anything to do with how it is viewed.
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Good points.
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