IE Feature-creep or Worse?

"Discussions not available on WebMasterWorld"

[chewy]

New (to me) thing popped up recently in the framing of my IE 6 here. Seems like some kind of new blogging feature.

Right above the bottom status bar there is a new grey section that looks like some kind of new feature enabling me to have discussions. It is very MS IE centric looking, with menus and icons.

And there is a "Subscribe" button - which when pushed says "You must specify a discussion server in order to use the discussion feature. Would you like to specify one now?"

Please - is this part of IE or something else? I cannot find any good clear references - but it seems to look legitimate. But then again, it could be some new form of silly scumware or worse.

Is this some weird vestigal feature or something new?

-Chewy

[encyclo]

Do you use Microsoft's Sharepoint collaboration software? I think it does something like that...

[chewy]

please, within TOS, where would I find a server - are their public servers or must I buy in...