The Download Blog

FeedDemon 3 will synchronize your feeds with Google Reader.

(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

RSS aggregator FeedDemon and e-mail client Postbox both have released recent updates to their not-quite-ready for prime-time programs.

FeedDemon 3.0.0.20 beta 5a continues to build out the feature set of the popular RSS and Atom feed manager. FeedDemon 3 is shaping up to be a must-grab improvement on the last stable release, version 2.7.

FeedDemon 3 is able to synchronize feeds not only with FeedDemon's own Web site, NewsGator, for online news reading, but it can also talk to Google Reader. I jumped away from Google Reader because at the time it was sluggish and I wanted to get my podcasts out of my music jukebox, but I've always regretted losing the convenience of having my e-mail and my RSS reader online and smoothly talking to one another. Google Reader integration means that users will have more flexibility in how they use the program and should broaden its appeal. Beta 5 synchronizes Google Reader and FeedDemon tags as well as the feeds themselves.

FeedDemon 3 comes with a slight interface refresh, too, although it's mostly done in service to the new features. The aforementioned tagging is new, bringing a bit of modern convenience to those who use keywords. Sharing has been made easier with a new Share icon, and shortened URLs such as bit.ly or TinyURL support mouse-over tooltips now.

This is becoming a must-have security feature as phishing attacks adapt to more pernicious methods, and works well in FeedDemon 3's stronger support for Twitter. Author names, replies, and hashtags are automatically linked, and profile pictures also appear. Fun stats such as how many unread items and how many flagged items you've got are surfaced, too.

If you do decide to try out the FeedDemon beta, back up the current version first. Go to File, Manage Cache, Backup, and create a back up folder to deposit the backups in. Full release notes for v3.0.0.20 beta 5a can be read here.

Postbox beta 12 for Windows and Mac updates the well-received remix of Mozilla's Thunderbird. New features include search suggestions when you're typing and smoother integration of folder search with global search. Switching between the two is now marginally simpler. The inspector pane on the right side of a message has been tweaked, as well. Sender details, image thumbnails and dimensions, and the revamped search options for messages, images, links, and attachments have been rolled into the pane.

Mac users should find better support for native Mac address books and Growl notifications. Firefox 3.0.10 bug-fixes have also been integrated into this version of Postbox.

Postbox beta 12 is a small update overall, but because of the bug- and security-fixes that have been implemented I'd strongly recommend upgrading. Full release notes are here.

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Of the several news readers offered in Apple's iTunes App Store to date, NetNewsWire stands out as the most appealing. Unlike Mobile News from the Associated Press, NetNewsWire pulls in stories from multiple sources, and unlike Google Reader, it does so nearly instantly in a true native application (Google Readers whisks you to an iPhone-optimized Web application after you select it from a list of more options on Google Mobile.)

Like many other applications, NetNewsWire is the iPhone version of an already-brawny Web service operated by NewsGator, and one whose desktop versions CNET Download.com editors have already acclaimed for its usability on Macs and on PCs, where it's known as FeedDemon.

NetNewsWire for iPhone is a feeds repository, but a good one. You won't be able to add feeds at this early stage, but the application will syncs with any of your existing NewsGator accounts for NetNewsWire for Macintosh, FeedDemon, Inbox, and NewsGator Online. The application lets new users to sign up from the iPhone. You'll also be able to save posts in a clippings folder for later perusal, and read the full article on Safari.

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.

Newsgator's FeedDemon, the formerly pay-for-play, now freeware, RSS feed catcher upgrades to Version 2.7 with one useful new tool and a flowering bunch of bug-fixes. The Mac version, NetNewsWire, has also been updated.

FeedDemon's main window

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FeedDemon now lets users subscribe to multiple feeds at the same time, under the tool name Find Feeds. For longtime FeedDemon users, there are a stack of improvements that should be instantly noticeable to users who've raged against the occasional "flagged" feed drop and other problems synchronizing multiple configurations across several PCs and operating systems.

FeedDemon's biggest claim to fame in Version 2.7 is a supposedly faster response time. This, of course, will depend on your personal system and its limitations. Running the latest code build for an hour, I sadly noticed few changes from Version 2.6. There still seem to be bugs syncing flagged items for high-traffic feeds. Other improvements include support for multiple enclosures, also known as "podcasts" to the rest of us, and support for multiline URLs--they now get shortened to one line when you paste them.

Overall, though, the changes are at worst negligible and at best a minor but welcome improvement. Let's hope that future versions eliminate syncing mishaps, but I've been gladly using FeedDemon since it went free at the end of last year.

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.

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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.

I regularly visit tons of Web sites every day for the latest software updates, blog posts about cool gadgets, and other news sites. But instead of clicking through bookmarks in my Web Browser, I like the ease and convenience of a RSS reader. I recently put together a collection of RSS readers for Windows, but I just found out only a few days ago the developer of one of the best RSS readers for Mac decided to release its product for free.

Once you've set up your feed list, getting the news is extremely easy

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NewsFire is a full-featured RSS reader with an easy-to-use interface so you can get your news just how you want it. Simply hit the "+" key in the lower left of the NewsFire interface and type in the address of your favorite news site. NewsFire will quickly scan the site for a feed link and add it to your list. Once you have all of your favorite sites listed, hit Shift-Command-R to refresh all feeds and NewsFire will gather all the latest stories and posts for you. Now when you want to read the latest news, all you have to do is launch NewsFire and click through the sites on the left to bring up all the available stories on the right. What could be easier?

Look under Open Web Browser to switch the browser window behavior.

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My one complaint about NewsFire is a small one, but it's easily fixed. When you click on a news story, the page is launched in your default browser behind the NewsFire window. Ideally a newsreader will offers its own window to display stories without leaving the interface, but the way NewsFire launches in the background is not my idea of intuitive. To make it launch the browser window on top of NewsFire when you click the link, go into the NewsFire preferences, click on the Interaction tab, and click the radio button below the section Open Web Browser, which reads "In front of the NewsFire Window." After setting this up, once you find a story you want to read, clicking the link will bring you right to the article.

Though you can get away with browsing through your bookmarks, using a newsreader is far more efficient for getting the information you want. Now that some of the biggest names in Mac newsreaders, like NewsFire and NetNewsWire are free, you should really check out how easy getting your news can be.

Checking Web sites by typing in the URL feels like firing up a rickety 56k baud modem and logging on to CompuServe. It gets the job done, but really should only be used under extreme duress or nostalgia. Syndicated feeds bring the Web site to you, and when NewsGator made all its RSS clients free on Wednesday, they suddenly made a top-notch suite with tools for Windows, Mac, mobile, the Web, a podcast manager, and a Microsoft Outlook extension incredibly appealing. And by appealing, I mean you might not be able to imagine feeds the same way afterwards. It's that good.

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So, you were one of the lucky people to receive a shiny new Mac for the holidays. We're all jealous! But if you're reading this, you've probably already spent some time getting set up and checking out all the cool features and programs that come with your Mac--and now you want more! Out of the box, your Mac is loaded with cool apps to get you started on stuff like uploading and organizing your digital images, creating a music library, making your own movies, and surfing the Web. (You're here, so it must have worked!)

While new Macs come with a ton of goodies already, there are a number of cool apps Mac users count on every day that aren't included in the initial setup. To get you started, we've rounded up 10 must-have downloads for your new Mac. From Web browsers and useful utilities to fun and games, these top Mac downloads are perfect for your new computer and a great way to start exploring the world of Mac software at CNET Download.com.

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Sure, Safari comes preloaded on your Mac and it's got a lot of great features, but it's not for everybody. The folks at Mozilla developed Camino from the ground up with the intention of creating a light and fast browser that plays nice with the elegance of Mac OS X. Though its not as feature-rich as its older cousin Firefox, users looking to keep it simple (with class) should try Camino.

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Do you like hot keys? If you're the type of person who likes to load Web sites, apps, and files quickly, check out this solid utility. Simply bring up the tiny Quicksilver interface to type a few letters of your chosen app, file, or Web site to get a list of possibilities--without your fingers ever leaving the keyboard. If you want a quick way to launch anything, this is the app for your Mac.

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A fully interactive globe on your desktop? What's not to like? Use Google Earth to point to a place on our planet and zoom in to see satellite imagery, detailed maps with street and location names, and much more. The recent addition of street level views adds to the fun with more and more major cities getting added all the time. Frankly, if you want a fun, interesting, and educational free program, Google Earth is a must-have download.

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QuickTime supports several file types on its own, but if you've ever spent time on the Internet you know QuickTime doesn't do it all. If you have a pesky video file type that won't open in QuickTime, VLC Media Player is the answer. Packed with features for playing DVDs and almost any video, this free app is more than worth the download time and you'll never have to worry about whether you can watch a particular video on your Mac again.

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Good image editors are hard to come by, and popular professional ones can cost in the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. GraphicConverter X is a longtime Mac-user favorite, supporting the conversion of a huge number of file types with plenty of tools for just about any image-editing project. The shareware nag screen is sure to annoy you after a while, but you have to admit, $34.95 is nowhere near as painful as hundreds of dollars.

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Not everybody uses the same chat client so iChat probably won't work with all your contacts. Adium X is the popular Mac chat client that works with most of the popular services seamlessly. This means you can connect with and sign up for Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ, AIM, and many more all from within the same program. If that's not enough, maybe we should mention it is free.

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If you're a Web designer, pro blogger, or even just looking to start up your own site, Coda has the comprehensive toolset you need. Boasting one-window Web development, Coda offers an integrated file browser, fully-featured text editor, a CSS editor, preview functions, and a built-in terminal--all within the same interface. Big Web-design apps are too expensive for most users, but Coda is only $79.95 to register--and you get to put it through its paces before you buy.

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Free long distance? No problem with Skype. This Internet telephony app lets you freely contact anyone around the world as long as they also have the free Skype client. Simply get your long-lost cousin to download Skype and you're all set. Sign up for Skype paid services so you can call landlines. This app is a no-brainer for international callers who don't want to pay big long-distance bills.

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Get the news your way with one of the best RSS clients we've seen for Mac. NetNewsWire offers a slick 3-paned interface shows your favorite news outlets on the left, headlines on the right, and expanded stories on the bottom if you see something you like. Adding new feeds couldn't be easier and you can set how often NetNewsWire updates its feed list so you always have the latest updates. NetNewsWire is easily one of the best and most intuitive ways to get the latest news on your Mac.

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Most great first-person shooter games for Mac are the type you need to buy online or at your local video game shop. Nexuiz is the attempt of some generous developers to make a free, multiplatform, online deathmatch game for everybody. It still has a couple of problems and bugs to be fleshed out, but for sheer high-energy shoot-'em-up mayhem in a free game, you're going to have a hard time finding one as fun and challenging as Nexuiz.