CNET Editors' review
This RSS newsreader aggregator arrives preloaded with a variety of feeds, including podcasts, making it attractive to nearly all newsreader users.
BitsCast has a familiar, functional interface--similar to e-mail clients like Outlook or Thunderbird--that will prove reassuring to novice users who may be intimidated by the cluttered appearance of some other newsreaders. The row of icon-labeled buttons along the top of the BitsCast interface include pop-up helpers that easily guide a user through adding feeds, archiving feeds, exporting playlists to your system's default player, and so on.
The preloaded feeds come from a plethora of sources. News sources include BBC, CNET, CNN, InfoWorld, New York Times, and Washington Post. Podcast sources are ABC News, CBS News, CNN Marketplace, Rocketboom, The Wizards of Technology, and a number of YouTube topics. BitsCast also features a BitTorrent downloader.
In our tests, the program performed quickly and reliably, except in one case in which BitsCast crashed while we were adding a podcast feed. Afterward, the app responded with no problems, and we found that BitsCast had indeed saved the feed in question. Users at any level of expertise should find this free newsreader reliable and simple to employ.
Publisher's Description
From BitsCast:
Bitscast is an RSS reader/database/aggregator and a podcast receiver/player. It handles all news feeds in RSS 0.9, 1.0, 2.0, ATOM 0.3 and 1.0; provides advanced supports for multiple channels, subscription lists, and channel/list management; supports OPML import/export and RSS feed auto-detection. Bitscast also includes media (audio/video software image) auto-downloader and local cache management; podcast/video blog playback/cache, BitTorrent attachment downloader; and database query tool, supported by Microsoft JET engine.
Version 0.15 includes Major bug fix for database lockup on multi-core CPU system and brings libcurl/libtorrent to the latest.
What's new in this version: Version 0.15 includes Major bug fix for database lockup on multi-core CPU system and brings libcurl/libtorrent to the latest.
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All versions:
5.0 starsout of 2 votes
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Current version:
5.0 starsout of 1 votes
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My rating:
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"Stuff NewsGator/Google, BitsCast is a better choice."
Version: BitsCast 0.15
Pros
Installation was simple. Once app loads it comes with a swag of feeds, and some are actually useful. Imports OPML files just fine, I had trouble with most other readers. The interface is easy to folllow. It is a nice user friendly package.
Cons
Really the only fault I could find, but I am sure that others will find more, is that download speeds are slow and if there is a lot of content it will slow down your link while working.
Summary
In a nushell, download and use it. You will not be disappointed, and it is free. Forget FeedDemon or NewsGator with their Google handshake, their product is not that great when you have to pay.
A content downloader that handles video of various types would be nice but it is easy to work around by copying the URL then pasting it into Mozilla and using DownloadHelper to grab the file.
I like it, it is nice.
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