My colleagues here at Silverpop have begun working with the beta version of MS Office 2007. We are particularly interested in Outlook 2007 for obvious reasons <grin>.

We've been pleasantly surprised by the new email client's great support for RSS. As you can see by clicking to enlarge the image below, not only does Outlook 2007 support RSS, it completely folds it into the user interface -- RSS sits right alongside standard email, making for a seamless view of both kinds of messages.

Additionally, unlike RSS solutions by Firefox or Yahoo!, Outlook actually tags RSS messages as new and read. This feature enables users to easily know when they have new messages, just like an inbox.

As marketers, you have the choice of delivering your messages via RSS or via email. The good news for users of Outlook 2007 (and Gmail and Yahoo! Mail) is that they will be able to seamlessly consume either one. Outlook 2007 is just one more step -- albeit an important one -- in the convergence of the RSS and email worlds into one overall message management experience.

A preview of RSS in Outlook 2007: