Microsoft has proposed to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) a new format for standardizing how "push" content is delivered over the Web. The announcement of this proposal was made last night at Internet World in Los Angeles. Microsoft would like the Channel Definition Format (CDF) to provide users with a uniform interface for receiving content from Web sites and push delivery sources. Microsoft has the support of over 30 vendors, including PointCast, SoftQuad, and America Online. CDF is based largely on the PointCast "push" technology. Other companies, notably Microsoft competitor Netscape, voiced only passing interest.
"We'll take a look at it when and if it is something that the W3C or IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) asks for participation in from other companies," said Daniel Klaussen, group product manager for client marketing at Netscape. "Right now, this is nothing more than a proposed standard."
CDF also enables users to pull and cache updates from any Web site. This enables subscription-based services where users would receive notifications when sites that interest them have changed
