FeedDemon 3 is ready for public use, after months spent in a beta version that saw a confusing migration from proprietary online syncing to Google Reader.
That rough patch sorted, FeedDemon remains one of the best desktop RSS and Atom feed catchers. This version contains a lengthy list of changes, including greatly enhanced Twitter connectivity, a tweaked interface that's a bit easier to use, and better tagging and sharing.
My Twitter stream in FeedDemon 3.
(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)FeedDemon has dumped its proprietary synchronization site, Newsgator.com, in favor of syncing with Google Reader. New users won't notice, but older users are likely to lose many unread feeds, since Google can't import feeds with more than 10 unread items. Once synced with Google Reader, unread feeds can again include more than 10 items.
There's also a new, persistent ad placed in the lower-left corner of the interface, and FeedDemon's performance could be a lot better--RAM usage was hefty, and 3GB of RAM didn't prevent occasional program hang-ups.
Twitter feed reading has been baked in because FeedDemon supports authenticated feeds. Hyperlinking and short-URL expansion are automatic, and if you use Twitter as a live news stream, FeedDemon's Twitter link sharing should appeal to you. To set that up, you need to subscribe in FeedDemon to your Twitter feed here.
Tagging, tag clouds, and item sharing get a massive overhaul in FeedDemon 3, with all three features added to the item view and a tag cloud added to the Subscriptions Home view. The interface will look similar to FeedDemon 2.8, but there are many little tweaks to improve its usability.
Flags have been renamed Stars for Google Reader consistency, for example, while the Home page features videos, pictures, and content from your feeds. One smart improvement over Google Reader is that you can view your starred feeds in the folders they came from, instead of in a single "starred items" folder.
We'd like to see performance addressed in future versions, but overall, FeedDemon remains a favorite option for desktop feed management. Let us know your thoughts on the new FeedDemon in the comments below.
The world is full of feed readers. Portable FeedReader's claim to fame is its portability, obviously, but there's more to like than just being able to cram it on your USB drive with room to spare.
The program offers a standard RSS feed-reading interface with three vertical panes. One lists the feeds, the second shows the titles of the selected feeds stories, and the third serves as a viewer. Although the panes' width can be changed by clicking and dragging, the viewer pane is a bit narrow to comfortably read a typical Web page story. Portable FeedReader offers at launch selections from preloaded feeds, and adding a feed is a simple process.
Occasionally, the reader didn't respect the default browser settings and opened a new browser window instead of a new tab, but that's largely a minor quibble. Whether a novice or an expert, Portable FeedReader is worth trying out. And the price can't be beat.
If you don't want to spend a lot of time checking your RSS newsreader for updated feeds, you can do it on the fly with this application, which places a headline ticker at the top of the currently active window in addition to offering the standard reader.
Titlebar Ticker places a relatively unobtrusive bar at the top of your active windows frame that clearly indicates when fresh content arrives. A neat mouseover feature opens a second tier with the news source name, navigation arrows to move to another news feed, and an icon for opening a drop-down list of all the headlines from the current feed. Titlebar Ticker also adds an RSS icon in the system tray. Right-clicking the RSS icon let us customize a number of options, including having the application play a tone when a feed updates. Left-clicking the RSS icon opened a three-paned window, similar to the familiar e-mail client interface for listing the feed sources, headlines, and Web links.
There seems to be a bit of bug when clicking on a link from the main interface. The link launcher in the ticker works fine, but the one from the program's three-paned UI doesn't respect your default browser and instead forces Internet Explorer to open. That problem aside, Titlebar Ticker is recommended for its handy dual approach to reading feeds.
Looking for a simple-to-use, quick-performing RSS feed reader? This pared-down freebie may fit the bill.
RiverGate RSS Reader isn't fancy and lacks extras that, admittedly, some of its free competitors offer. So why bother with it? For one, using it is as smooth and zippy as other readers can be sluggish. It offers the basics in the familiar three-pane e-mail client interface that so many feed readers rely on. It comes preloaded with a variety of security-related feeds, plus one innocuous celebrity gossip/newsfeed, but adding feeds was a simple process in our tests. The reader responded quickly and performed well for us.
Besides performing well, the simplicity of RiverGate is appealing. RiverGate RSS Reader is a good place to start for RSS novices, and for anyone who wants just a basic reader without a lot of confusing extra features and options.
If you have a lot of media to browse through, no matter what viewer you use, it's bound to take some time. Whatever the project may be--from picking the best shots from a pro photo shoot to getting the most action-packed movie clips from a birthday party--you need a good way to browse, compare, and sort through your media quickly. The obvious choices on your Mac are iPhoto or iMovie, but if you're looking for a different way to sort through several media file-types with added unique features, check out AtomicView.
An intuitive interface makes it easy to navigate through media quickly.
(Credit: CNET Networks)AtomicView offers a sparse, but intuitive interface for sifting through tons of images and videos quickly. It takes advantage of multicore processors and your video hardware, letting you work even while importing large amounts of high-quality media. Just drag-and-drop a folder full of images to the bottom of the interface and watch AtomicView quickly gather and display all the information about each image--without significant slow downs. From there you'll be able to perform simple changes like batch rotating or batch renaming in only a couple of steps. You also can create groups to make it easier to find media from specific events.
Search using any number of different criteria to find specific images.
(Credit: CNET Networks)AtomicView offers excellent viewing options, letting you go into full-screen mode with movable interface elements and different viewing variations to fit your workflow. A comprehensive search feature lets you search by a number of different criteria so you can find specific media in several ways. AtomicView supports ITPC, EXIF, and XMP Metadata formats and you can create your own fields to make finding specific shots from a subgroup of images extremely easy.
Full-screen views make it easy to sort through and compare similar high-quality images.
(Credit: CNET Networks)While AtomicView doesn't offer the editing tools of other programs, it's the perfect fit for professional photographers and digital camera enthusiasts who need to sort through and analyze big folders of media. The image-analysis-friendly interface, simple tools, and customizable views make it a natural choice for those who process large amounts of high-quality media.
This top-notch feed reader will devour your RSS and Atom feeds, though some users might find it too basic. Snarfer keenly follows the "keep it simple" adage in every function. An uncomplicated, uncluttered interface follows a generic layout of left-side listed entries and a central preview pane. Set your browser to recognize Snarfer as your feed catcher and you'll find the program has already entered the link from the clipboard into your add-feed dialog.
To save an entry, simply drag it to a Save folder. E-mailing an entry and other basic functions are available in the context menu, while helpful wizards make it a snap to add and save Craigslist or eBay searches. Especially helpful is the prominent Quick Search box, though searches can't be limited to a single feed. Feed updates and update intervals are easily set, and users can elect to automatically save entries they have read or have them expire after a certain number saved. You can also import feeds from other readers using OPML.
This is a perfect first feed-reader for newbies, although experienced readers will miss customizations like changing fonts and preview pane location. Nevertheless, we recommend this freeware feed reader for its simplicity, small footprint, presentation, and efficiency.
These well-crafted, standalone newsreaders makes an ideal choice for both novices who've never heard of an RSS feed and advanced users looking to put some oomph and flexibility into their reading habits. As the desktop clients for the online NewsGator, FeedDemon for Windows and NetNewsWire for Macs both can synchronize bi-directionally with their Web-based counterpart, making it easy to get your feeds wherever and whenever you need them.
Other useful features include a built-in Web browser that's built on Internet Explorer--sorry Firefox and Opera fans, tabbed browsing for when you need to open multiple feeds' Web pages, Watch channels for using keywords to surface feeds, and flags to keep older posts front and center. The integrated podcast manager automatically sends new podcasts to your music jukebox. Along with line-item synchronization, so you don't have to sync all of your feeds, NewsGator's feed-catching clients are definitely not a crock.
NewsGator converted its popular RSS feed aggregation clients to freeware in January 2008, and now that seed has borne fruit: recommended fruit, to be precise.
NewsGator's new Recommended Stories filter introduces users to stories and feeds they aren't already subscribed to, but might like.
(Credit: NewsGator)Partnering with SenseArray, a collaborative filter from Uprizer Labs, NewsGator now offers live RSS feed recommendations from feeds that the user hasn't already subscribed to. Currently available only on the online NewsGator client, the filter pulls information from NewsGator as well as its sibling desktop clients, FeedDemon for Windows and NetNewsWire for the Mac so that users who synchronize their RSS data will be contributing to the list of recommendations.
Brian Kellner, NewsGator's vice president of products, compared the process to more common Web-based ratings systems. "It takes attention from the client or online site, just like your rating on Amazon, but you're rating it with attention." That attention, he said, comes from marking a post as read--essentially telling the filter that you like it. If enough people do that and the post matches your interest, it might be suggested to you as news you'd like but haven't seen yet.
Kellner said that NewsGator will be making two kinds of recommendations. The first, a general news category, is "wide-open," as he puts it, but limited to posts from the past two days. The second is narrowed down to categories, such as entertainment or sports, and more heavily utilizes the SenseArray filters. These more specific recommendations are limited to not more than a week old, and should be adjustable to the tastes of the user.
The challenge, Kellner added, was how to recommend current stories that users aren't already getting. "We pull in six million events per week that we think are relevant." But the system won't be perfect initially. "Over time, we'll see what adjustments we need to make."
NewsGator does have plans to push the recommendations feature out to its desktop clients, but there isn't a timeline for that, yet.
Hunting down dastardly captcha hackers and spyware slimeballs is busy work, even for a man as talented as Power Downloader. Power doesn't have a lot of free time, so it's hard to remember to check all the Web sites that are important to him. His solution: instead of surfing a list of bookmarks, Power Downloader uses RSS feeds and FeedDemon to make the news and podcasts come to him.
FeedDemon is one of the best programs for managing your RSS collection. The interface is slick and easy to personalize, which is important since Power wasn't too impressed with the default look. What he did like, though, was FeedDemon's setup wizard, which allowed him to subscribe to an unlimited number of popular RSS feeds by simply checking boxes. The program also provided links to several other RSS directories. The utility's Watches and Clippings feature searches for news items containing user-specified keywords and places them in separate groups so they're easier to find. Archiving a story for later use is easy with flags, an important feature when collecting research on suspected criminals.
FeedDemon manages feeds and podcasts for Power Downloader.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Three other compelling features make FeedDemon an essential tool for Power: one is the integrated podcast manager, which will automatically send new podcasts to your music jukebox. The second is that FeedDemon exists for the Mac, but is called NetNewsWire. The third is that both come with automatic synchronization to NewsGator, FeedDemon's Web-based client that makes sure that whether Power is at his computer or in a Net cafe, he's always able to stay on top of the news he needs.
Power Downloader fans hungering for more can read more about how to use FeedDemon and how FeedDemon manages podcasts.
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CNET Networks)
Whenever I'm setting up on a new computer or test machine at work, or even after I've downloaded my must-have programs on a new home machine, one of the first things I do is grab an RSS newsreader. Though you can use Web browser favorites to hit and save your most visited sites, newsreaders have a few advantages that make getting all the latest updates even easier.
With a good newsreader on your machine, anytime you see an available RSS feed at a Web site (usually with an orange RSS or XML label), you can have all the latest news from that page delivered to you. Think of it as having your own digital paper boy. Once you've loaded up your RSS reader with feeds from your favorite blogs, news, and technology sites, the latest posts show up in your newsreader automatically without you needing to seek them out.
The newsreader category runs the gamut of interface diversity so you can get your feeds in a lot of different ways. There are news tickers like the Mighty Ticker, which show headlines you can open as they trail across your screen; unique toolbar-like apps like KlipFolio, which sit as a stand-alone widgets on your desktop; and Web-based apps like Google Reader (for those with a Google account) that offer a strong browser-based alternative .
To keep it simple, I've narrowed my selections down to newsreaders you can download right away with the most intuitive and commonly used interface. I just want to point out, when you're ready to explore some of the other methods of getting the latest news, there are plenty of options available. As always, if you have a favorite newsreader that's not featured here, let us know in the comments!
When you find a story you like, you can open it full screen.
(Credit: CNET Networks)RSS Bandit is a free newsreader offering the standard three-pane interface with your feeds on the the left part of the interface, headlines on the upper right, and story summaries on the lower right. Clicking on a story opens the story in full-page view like a browser. With this type of setup, you can click through your feed list quickly and browse through the stories you want to read without shuffling through a bunch of browser bookmarks. One of the best things about RSS Bandit is the ability to detect feeds on a page. So when you find a site you like, you can use the Wizard to discover all available feeds before making your choice.
The basic three-pane design makes it easy to find the information you want.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Snarfer is another great free newsreader with a similar interface layout to RSS Bandit. This one comes with several feeds already set up for you to browse, but it's just as easy to add them on your own. What makes this app interesting is it includes a wizard you can set up to do complex searches on Craigslist and eBay so you'll be the first to know when a specific item becomes available. I also like how it offers a tabbed interface so you can get important stories on screen which you can browse when you're ready.
The multitude of viewing, sorting, and discovery options sets FeedBeast apart
(Credit: CNET Networks)FeedBeast is a shareware alternative (usually $18.95, but $5 for a limited time. Check the developer site for more info) which offers the standard three-pane interface, but is a bit more polished than the free offerings. Features like e-mail synchronization to get important news to your in-box and Word Watch, which lets you search for news via keywords, are handy additions. It comes with numerous sorting options so you can get to the exact information you're after. Also, getting new feeds from your favorite sites couldn't be easier with FeedBeast's one-click subscription feature.
If you're a news junkie like I am and you're sick of drowning in bookmarked favorites, download one of these apps. You'll quickly realize how much more efficient your daily news and information browsing can be with a good newsreader.
