XML Favorites for Windows
There is little doubt that Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 will use XML extensively. Surely, XML will be involved in addressing the Favorites problem mentioned here previously. In the meantime, the screenshot at left shows Songhay Links running in Windows 2000.
Songhay Links is almost a “smart client” because it consumes data from remote locations for its “rich,” local, user interface—and this data is in XML format—specifically two XML files. The first XML file stores all of the Favorites I used to store in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x. The data from this file is also used in the XSL transformation that produces the new and improved kinté links page.
The second XML file is machine specific and goes beyond the Microsoft Favorites concept. This second file (using the same schema as the first) stores command-line statements as well as links to Web pages. This breaks down the psychological barrier erected in my mind (with help from Microsoft) that divided local links and remote links—and URI ‘commands’ from any other OS-specific command. Songhay Links unifies all of these concepts into one location. Witness, kind friends, mental liberation on a microcomputer scale!
In the rasx() context, XML is liberating. XML is not simple; it is primal. It has a fundamental impact on my data management consciousness. Strangely, there is quite a bit of flexibility when you make rigid declarations. And, oh, back to the screenshot. You might notice how crappy the icons look in this shot. This is because my laptop is running at 1600×1200 so I have to magnify the screen fonts to be able to see stuff at this resolution. One of the side effects of such magnification is stretching out the pixels of icons like the deformed ones you see in the picture. One of the many, many reasons why Microsoft is working on a new version of Windows, Windows Vista, is to eliminate this problem. Contemporary technology is far from perfect.