This post about Desktop RSS Readers. I know that many of you primarily use on-line readers such as Bloglines, Newsgator Online, Netvibes and Google Reader. So t if you like using an online service and don’t want or need to download your feeds to your computer, then this post is not for you. I, on the other hand, like to be in control (as much as this is possible), and for me that means downloading my RSS feeds to my notebook computer where I can access them at any time or place that I want. This is important to me because I am not always in range of wireless, and therefore not always able to access online readers or my articles on them. By having them on my hardrive I can read them whenever and wherever and then use my desktop blogging tool (Zoundry – see this post) to blog about them.

Now let me say that I have test driven what seems to me like a zillion desktop RSS readers – I know it’s not that many, but it seems like it. Ones I have tried include, but are not limited to: Nutshell, KlipFolio, AlertBear, Awasu, Feedreader, RSS Owl, RSS Bandit, Omea, Tristana, Companian Desktop, SharpReader, BlogBridge, RSS2PDF, AgileRSS, FeedExplorer, RSS Xpress, BitsCast, GreatNews, News Messenger, Feed’nRead, BottomFeader, Pears, Feedthing, Novobot, and RSSFeeder.

When it comes to readers, I have several personal prejudices.

• One, I do not like “river of news” RSS readers (especially given the large number of feeds I subscribe to), and prefer readers that give one the option of viewing feeds in a newspaper format or traditional 3-panel e-mail view – see pics below of Omea (3-panel example) and GreatNews (newspaper example) to see what I’m talking about if you don’t know already.
• Second, I like to be able to delete individual posts simply and easily. Readers that won’t let me do this, I will not use.
• Third, a reader must allow the import of OPML files for ease of adding feeds, and the reader should include a web address panel that will aid in adding news feeds.

Given this, there are several readers that I would recommend. All of these warrant at least 6 dancing fish (out of 10), are listed in order of my preference (from least to most) and at the end of this article I give my nod to the best reader of all.

RssReader – Failed to import 15 of my 113 feeds, and was slower in doing this and in opening initially (requires NET framwork). This reader has a typical 3-panel e-mail look, but no option for Newspaper view. When reading articles you are given the option in the reading pane of “Read More” in RssReader by using it’s internal browser or “Open in Browser,” which will automatically open the article in your default browser. I liked the simplicity of this. Overall, the program is quick and responsive and uses very few system resources. The built-in browser, however, does not have an address bar, which would make it easier to add feeds. You can easily delete individual articles by simply pressing the delete button (a must for me) I hate it when you can’t delete individual posts. ATOM 0.3 support. Closed source, download here. CNET had this to say:

RSSReader uses the familiar multipane motif found in competing products. A left-side column lists your feeds, a top-right pane shows story headlines, and the lower-right browser window displays a story–including banner ads–when you click its headline in the top-right pane. Overall, we found the interface easy to navigate and intuitive enough even for users unfamiliar with RSS newsreaders. Now for the bad news. The program’s help section is a big tease. Click the Help menu, and you’ll find zilch on how to use the program. The vendor’s site isn’t much better, with only a terse FAQ with basic RSS subscription setup and system requirement information.

Tristana - This program shows some promise, but I got at least one error message every time I used it. I don’t know what’s up with that, but with so many good free Readers out there, I don’t have to figure it out either. I will day, however, the more I used it, the less frequently the errors appeared. Tristana does however give one the option to download all attachments to posts, including podcasts. Tristana is iPod friendly and allows you to view podcasts and safely download media files immediately or when your PC is idle. You can use the built-in search function to find newsfeeds on the Web, or search downloaded feeds by keyword. There are also several skins you can choose from to change the look of your interface, and you can set your own personal preferences on checking for new content or deleting old content after a specified period of time. Download here.

BlogBridge – Only a newspaper view available. A good basic program, but the inability to use a 3-pane e-mail look rules this reader out for me. From the Blogbridge website you can read:

Snapfiles is now carrying BlogBridge 2.13, and has given it a great 5 star Rating! Here is the text of the review: “BlogBridge is a Java based RSS reader than finds blog items based on keyword input and category topic. You can also subscribe to any RSS feed by adding the URL to the list. The program offers an attractive and easy-to-use interface with personal star ratings, weekly status display and collapsible article headlines. It includes some unique features like the option to generate a SmartFeed based on specific keywords, which can be aggregated from your own feeds or various online resources. BlogBridge supports feed specific display settings and themes, feed collections (guides), OPML import, as well as custom feed tags, which can optionally be shared with others. The program also integrates with an optional online service that lets you access your feeds from any browser over the Internet.

If you are interested in BlogBridge, you can download it here.

FeedExplorer – Nice 3-panel Outlook 2003 look, no newspaper view and no traditional e-mail view either. Easy import/export. It also has an integrated search feature. Responsive and Quick, but hungrier than some when it comes to RAM usage. Has an Address bar, which is convenient. Can delete articles by using the delete key, but the visible post does not automatically advance to the next article (which seems very odd to me). If you like the look, it is a simple and easy to use reader, however. Download here. Snapfiles gives FeedExplorer 4 stars and has this to say:

Our Rating: (Very Good) FeedExplorer is a RSS feed reader with an attractive and easy-to-use interface that allows you to organize your feeds into categories, and select from different display styles for your headlines. It comes with a built-in browser, and an integrated search function, as well as an option to watch for specific keywords. Additional features include OPML import/export and system tray notifications.

SharpReader (requires NET framwork) – a basic and efficient reader with no bells or whistles. Very quick. Offers no newspaper view. ATOM 0.3 support. ATOM 1.0 support. Advanced threading support allowing you to view connected items together in a threaded fashion. Closed source. Download here. PC Magazine gave it 3 of 5 stars and recommends it as a basic reader. It adds:

SharpReader’s interface is simple and very clean. We had no problems installing it, and it came with a number of presubscribed feeds, including Scripting News, Slashdot, and Wired. We like that you can view a feed via the address bar at the top of SharpReader without having to subscribe, and that you can also drag and drop an RSS link from your browser into the address bar to check out that feed. Adding feeds is easy. Simply type in a URL and SharpReader will scan that page to find an RSS link in it. SharpReader also lets you import or export your subscriptions in OPML format, a nice touch if you want to share your subscriptions or check out someone else’s. The option to view individual feeds or group them into convenient categories is handy, as is the ability to customize each feed’s refresh time. You can also filter your feeds based on keywords. SharpReader certainly isn’t the fanciest news reader out there, and as a standalone it is not the equal of FeedDemon [a pay-for program]. But for basic news reading, it definitely gets the job done with a minimal amount of fuss.

RSSBandit - Offers customizable rendering of feed items with XSLT and looks inspired by FeedDemon. ATOM 0.3 support. Open Source. I like the tabs for the feeds and web pages being separated (tabs are the in thing it seems everywhere nowadays). In fact, out of all the readers I have tried out, I like the looks of RSSBandit best. But it is a RAM hungry program, using 2 to 3 times the resources of the some of the more efficient programs. RSSBandit does requires NET framwork, and you can download it here. About.com gives RSSBandit 4 out of 5 stars and says RSSBandit is a nice and very capable feed reader that lets you browse news in an organized fashion. Its flexibility, virtual folders and synchronization abilities are great, but it would be even greater if it integrated with Bloglines in addition to NewsGator Online. CNET also gives it 4 of 5 stars and adds:

RSSBandit is a freeware software program for subscribing, managing, and reading news [feeds]. It has many attractive features, allowing a user to merge news headlines from multiple sources onto a single page and organize articles based on keyword, read/unread status, and age. We liked the built-in tabbed browser that allows a user to read the full article and search for new newsfeeds without quitting the program. Adding newfeeds is a simple one-click action, and the software lets users customize frequency and display settings for each individual feed. Once those settings are chosen, the program updates automatically and can display alerts whenever a new headline is available. We would have liked to see a more flexible search capability, and the internal browser could have used an address bar to make Web navigation a bit easier, but on the whole RSSBandit is an attractive choice for Web news hounds.

Omea Reader – quicker to load, more responsive, and the autofeed discovery process is much easier than most readers. (requires NET framwork) It can utilize combined newsfeeds, Usenet newsgroups and bookmarked web pages reader. Commercial license available, but there is also a free personal reader available here. About.com loves Omea and gives it 4 and 1/2 stars. Their review goes on to say:

Omea Reader makes staying up to date with RSS feeds, Usenet news and web pages a smooth experience tailored to your reading style and organizing talent with search folders, annotations, categories and workspaces. It can seem a bit over-complicated at times, though, giving no clear guidance. Omea Reader also lacks learning filters and synchronization.

• Omea Reader lets you read RSS feeds, Usenet newsgroups and web pages, downloads podcasts.
• Omea Reader lets you search items fast, and you can save searches to smart views easily.
• Items can be categorized, flagged and annotated in Omea, and you can save excerpts as clippings.
• Omea Reader automatically links related items (such as blog posts by a person).
• You can import existing RSS feeds from OPML files, other RSS feed readers and Bloglines accounts.
• Omea Reader lets you post to blogs directly and can be expanded further with plug-ins.

Out of all the Readers I have used, Omea is my second choice. It does, however, tend to be RAM hungry, and it does far more than an RSS reader needs to do in my opinion. But if you are looking for a complete and feature rich program, Omea is for you. You can download it here.

GreatNews is a very fast reader. You can scan thru articles quickly, and you have a choice between the 3-panel e-mail view and newspaper view (some nice choices in this viewing preference as well). GreatNews also works with Bloglines (for those who use this online reader as well) in such a way that both your subscriptions and read items are synchronized. GreatNews is fast and efficient and it also integrates seemlessly with the blogging tool I use as well: Zoundry. Snapfiles gives GreatNews five out of five stars (I concur with 10 out of 10 dancing fish), and goes on to add:

GreatNews is a RSS feed reader that optimized for fast and efficient reading of your favorite web feeds. It offers different view styles, including a newspaper view, that allows you to read a group of feeds organized arranged in newspaper-style page layout without having to click through individual feed items. The program supports custom labels, email and blog integration as well as custom keyword alerts (news watches) that let you automatically find articles of interest and have them available in a special category. Other features include import/export feeds from/to OPML and XML files, automatic cleanup of old items, browser integration with popup blocking and more. GreatNews is small, fast and very efficient – it does not require an installation, just unzip and run.

Also, let me add that GreatNews is so easy to install. It requires neither Java or .NET to use, and it can be downloaded here. Another great review of GreatNews can be found at TipMonkies.

So in conclusion, here are some summary findings:

• Worst Readers for RAM Usage: Tristana, Omea, RSSBandit
• Best Readers for RAM Usage: Snarfer (not reviewed here, still using – seems like a good basic RSS reader), SharpReader, GreatNews
• Most Features: RSSBandit, GreatNews, Tristana,Omea
• Best Interface: Omea, GreatNews, RSSBandit

My RSS Reader of choice: GreatNews. For another perspective you can also read about the Top Ten Free RSS Readers for Windows here

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