14 DAY TRIAL // Some people can't live without news. In some cases, missing the latest news can cost you your job. Fortunately, I am not endangered by anything when I miss big news, and that happens each day. I have my own plans and as long as no alien invasion or large natural disaster happens around, there aren't any news that can make me regret missing them. Anyway, I don't live in a tree, and reviewing a good RSS reader is always a pleasure.
Today's choice is called RssReader and its latest version is 1.0.96.1 Beta RC3. The setup files come inside a 669KB ZIP archive and installing the program should be a piece of cake for all of you, beginners and experts alike. The good news is that you don't have to worry about the price, because this program is completely free to use for as long as you wish. These being said, it's time to move on and discover RssReader's interface and features, so prepare yourselves for the ride and let's go!
RssReader's main window has the following areas: the main menu, the toolbar, feeds, headlines and preview panes, as well as a status bar. All the interface elements that I have just mentioned can be hidden or shown as you like, with only one exception: the menu bar. The interface is well organized and customizable, despite the fact that it doesn't support skins and its toolbar icons design isn't something to make you roll your eyes. Anyway, the good part is that you shouldn't have problems while interacting with the program, and this is the most important thing.
Since we're talking about a news reader, the first things to know about it are the syndication formats supported. RssReader can handle RSS, ATOM and XML feeds, and this should be enough for most users. What I would like to have and didn't found here is a way to search the feeds based on a keyword on the Internet and then have them all displayed to choose the ones to use. Of course that I can do this manually, but I've seen other programs having such features, and I find it very useful.
Adding and organizing the feeds is very easy, since the most important thing you have to know is the address to use. Once you know that, press the Add button from the toolbar, use the Add feed command from the File menu or press Ctrl+Shift+F and then follow the instructions.
Once you started adding feeds, you may need to organize them, and best way is to group them. A group can have as many feeds as you want, and browsing the treeview that contains them is as easy as possible, because every Windows user knows how to do it because it's exactly the same thing as browsing your files with Windows Explorer.
A feature that I always like to have inside a news reader is the internal browser, and RssReader didn't disappoint me with that. For each of the news present in the headlines area, you can choose to read more inside the internal browser or just open the page using the default Web browser.
The feed refresh times can be changed depending on your thirst for fresh news, and the groups, feeds, headlines and preview areas can have the font type, size, color and background color changed as you wish. Even more, you can use Cascading Style Sheets to change the way news are displayed.
I know this is not an outstanding program, but it doesn't have any reason to be ashamed of, and I can only wish it continues its way up and maybe one day my favorite RSS reader will be called RssReader, but now it's time for the conclusions.
The Good
RssReader is an interesting news reader that can help you get latest news on your computer in time, being easy to use, fast and reliable at the same time.
The Bad
This program's documentation is not enough for me, especially since there are enough things to talk about, and it would be nice to get support for searching news sources on the Internet from the program as soon as possible.
The Truth
RssReader is exactly what the name says, and a little more: a good RSS reader, but since GoodRssReader would be a really pathetic name, you'll have to believe me and get this program for yourselves, I know that most of you will agree with me. Good luck and enjoy your daily news!
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
