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bbales · Jun 29, 2005, 08:32 AM

I've been test-driving NetNewsWire for nearly 3 weeks now, and like it quite a bit. In fact, I'm getting ready to spring for the paid version, instead of the free "lite" one.

Before I buy, I'm also going to test out a couple others, inews among them. But a question -- which ones do people like? Any advantages to one over another?

And I don't care for the one built in to Safari, by the way.

I did do a search, but didn't find this question addressed exactly. (did find a poll indicating people are using add-ons, instead of the program built into Tiger, though!)

CatOne · Jun 29, 2005, 09:15 AM

I've been using NetNewsWire for about 3 years. It's the best I've found.

There are some others -- Shrook, NewsMac, and Fire. Many people were saying "Fire is better because it has a great interface and it's FREE!" and then it was no longer free and people were saying "Fire sucks, it's not nearly as good as NNW!" It strikes me as odd that people think that a product is BETTER because it's FREE -- it's not BETTER, it's just less expensive... functionality isn't affected by price.

That said, when Safari got RSS I started using it for a couple months. I eventually got annoyed by it, and went back to NNW, where I use the synchronization between two computers (though I haven't had perfect success with synching read articles). Still, it's very fast, and a lot more efficient way for me to read RSS than Safari was.

threestain · Jun 29, 2005, 09:47 AM

I personally like News You Can Use best of all - lovely slim app, with menubar item that's actually useable!

mdc · Jun 29, 2005, 10:02 AM

i've been using newsfire and i really like it.

saddino · Jun 29, 2005, 10:59 AM

Tickershock makes a nice companion to any standard RSS reader, if there are some feeds that you want to keep a constant eye on. Tickershock displays feeds in a scrolling ticker (or static but updated billboard), anywhere on your screen, set at any schedule you want (e.g. every hour on the hour for ten minutes).

wataru · Jun 29, 2005, 11:17 AM

The Sage plugin for Firefox.

angelmb · Jun 29, 2005, 01:23 PM

I like PulpFiction or the free PulpFiction Lite

Thorin · Jun 29, 2005, 04:23 PM

Another 'nod for NewsFire. I never really got on with other readers, and NewsFire has got me into RSS.

nonhuman · Jun 29, 2005, 04:46 PM

I use NetNewsWire Lite. It's good, but I see no compelling reason to get the pay version.

What I want to know is why there aren't more free RSS readers out there. The technology is really taking off, and I wish the Mac Open Source community would step up.

bbales · Jun 29, 2005, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

I use NetNewsWire Lite. It's good, but I see no compelling reason to get the pay version.

What I want to know is why there aren't more free RSS readers out there. The technology is really taking off, and I wish the Mac Open Source community would step up.

I have the lite version on my desktop and the demo of the pro version on my laptop. With the lite version, when you click on a link, you go to safari. With the pro version, you click on the liink and it opens a browswer within the program. Since the first behavior drives me nuts, that's pushing me to the pro version. Sounds stupid, but I just like the way the paid version behaves, more than the lite version. That said, the lite version is very good.

I'm going to look into some of the other suggestions, too.

Don Pickett · Jun 29, 2005, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

I use NetNewsWire Lite. It's good, but I see no compelling reason to get the pay version.

What I want to know is why there aren't more free RSS readers out there. The technology is really taking off, and I wish the Mac Open Source community would step up.

Another vote for NNWL.

Randman · Jun 29, 2005, 11:26 PM

Safari.

stravinsky1911 · Jun 29, 2005, 11:53 PM

NewsFire here- the ability to search all feeds is très cool...

brutal · Jun 30, 2005, 01:53 AM

Safari RSS

CatOne · Jun 30, 2005, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by bbales

I have the lite version on my desktop and the demo of the pro version on my laptop. With the lite version, when you click on a link, you go to safari. With the pro version, you click on the liink and it opens a browswer within the program. Since the first behavior drives me nuts, that's pushing me to the pro version. Sounds stupid, but I just like the way the paid version behaves, more than the lite version. That said, the lite version is very good.

I'm going to look into some of the other suggestions, too.

The tabs are also persistent (i.e. they stay across quit/restart of the app). That's really handy.. I wish Safari did that (without instability/crashing inducing software like Saft).

Mike S. · Jun 30, 2005, 06:20 PM

I also use Sage with FireFox but I'm a light RSS user. I just use the feeds to let me quickly choose what I want to read at my usual sites without having to visit each one and glance. In that respect, Sage works great.

nonhuman · Jun 30, 2005, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by bbales

I have the lite version on my desktop and the demo of the pro version on my laptop. With the lite version, when you click on a link, you go to safari. With the pro version, you click on the liink and it opens a browswer within the program. Since the first behavior drives me nuts, that's pushing me to the pro version. Sounds stupid, but I just like the way the paid version behaves, more than the lite version. That said, the lite version is very good.

I'm going to look into some of the other suggestions, too.

Really? I much prefer having it open in my default browser. The way I usually do it is to skim through the headlines double-clicking the interesting ones as I go. That way when I'm done skimming the headlines I just switch over to Safari and all the articles I want to read are opened in tabs.

bbales · Jul 1, 2005, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Really? I much prefer having it open in my default browser. The way I usually do it is to skim through the headlines double-clicking the interesting ones as I go. That way when I'm done skimming the headlines I just switch over to Safari and all the articles I want to read are opened in tabs.

Well, I never thought of that. What a good idea and time-saver. I must admit that I am vastly less adept and savvy about using tabs to simplify my life. That's such a simple idea that should have occurred to me that I can't believe it. Definitely have to organize things so that it works that way.

xmacintosh · Jul 1, 2005, 09:21 AM

I'm trying Safari RSS, but sometimes it does not update the RSS, I need to restart Safari to get news... Now using pulpfiction lite.

mishap · Jul 1, 2005, 09:34 AM

Safari as well. I've tried everything else. Safari has the best feel for me with its river of news style
I like having all my new items of 250 or so blogs/sites at the top of one large webpage and all i have to do is scroll and command-shift-click on the items i want to read.

nonhuman · Jul 1, 2005, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by bbales

Well, I never thought of that. What a good idea and time-saver. I must admit that I am vastly less adept and savvy about using tabs to simplify my life. That's such a simple idea that should have occurred to me that I can't believe it. Definitely have to organize things so that it works that way.

Someone liked my idea, cool!

Randman · Jul 1, 2005, 11:28 AM

I like using the RSS Visualizer.

iPetie · Jul 1, 2005, 05:35 PM

I'm kind of fond of RSS Menu. Simple, always visible yet not overpowering.

sieb · Jul 1, 2005, 06:16 PM

Safari

lavar78 · Jul 1, 2005, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Someone liked my idea, cool!

I did that as well before I used Safari. Frankly, I thought just about everyone did.