RSS Xpress is another desktop rss reader that does not come with the functionality of the latest version of FeedDemon but provides users with an optimized interface that looks like those of desktop email clients. Users can import their feed lists from other applications right into the RSS reader which is available as a portable version as well.

The feeds are displayed in the left sidebar of the application. They can be grouped in folders or listed as single feeds. The top pane of the main window contains the feed titles and other information while the lower pane displays the feed message. Some feeds are not displayed fully which is rather strange considering that they are displayed with their full text in other feed readers. It comes with filtering and notification options but stays pretty basic otherwise.

The main benefits of RSS Xpress are that it is available as a portable software program and that it is easy to use without all the advanced features offered by other feed readers. It does however require the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0 which is included in Windows Vista and later and should be installed on most Windows XP systems as well. Users who like advanced features might want to take a look at the latest FeedDemon beta version or Google Reader.

So how does Folder RSS work? A click on folder-rss.exe will explain the command line basics. It basically involves launching the same executable with a series of parameters that define what to watch and how to watch it. The basic command is folder-rss.exe [parameters] [folder to watch] [output file path]. The command folder-rss.exe c:\downloads c:\downloads.xml would create an RSS feed containing the latest changes to the c:\downloads directory. The RSS feed would be accessible by loading downloads.xml (or file://localhost/C:\download.xml)

Folder RSS comes with a set of optional parameters that can be used as filters. It is possible to to configure settings to monitor only files, folders or a specific file extension. It can also be used to change the maximum age of the files, the maximum amount of files that get displayed and to include Read only, Hidden or System files.

The RSS feed is not automatically updating itself. It has to be executed to update it. This can be done with a simple batch script that the user clicks on or that gets added to a task scheduler.

After downloading and installing RSS Popper a new toolbar appears in Microsoft Outlook. The toolbar contains one pulldown menu with the options to edit feeds and configure the options of the Microsoft Outlook add-in. It does contain two switches that can be used to turn RSS delivery on or off and to Refresh the RSS items.

The RSS news items are displayed under the RSS folder in the Mail Folders panel. This is similar to the way how Microsoft Outlook 2007 handles RSS news feeds.

RSS Popper comes with a few general RSS news items installed but one of the main reasons to use it is to add your own RSS feeds to the program.

RSS Popper supports RSS / Atom feeds, iCalendar items, Bloglines and Newsgator accounts. Interesting options include the function to translate a feed or to use authentication.

RSS FWD (discovered at Donation Coder) is a service that can turn RSS news into emails. The service provides an easy to use interface. It works by entering the main url of the website in the form on the main page which is convenient for many users who do not like to search for the RSS news link on a website or do not know what RSS actually is.

The service will automatically discover the RSS news feed – if there is any – and display a preview of the latest items. The user has to sign up afterwards by providing an email address and password which will be used to login to the service and manage the subscriptions.

The interval of the updates can be selected during the subscription. It is possible to select real-time, daily or weekly updates in the inbox. Users with many RSS news feeds can import an opml file so that all feeds contained within will be automatically added to it.

Webmasters can make use of small pieces of code they can place on their websites to allow email subscriptions. Each email send out will contain an unsubscribe link which can be accessed to unsubscribe from the website. It is also possible to manage subscriptions directly on the RSS FWD website.

The only way to enable alphabetically sorting again was to create new folders and add the feeds to them. New folders sort the items alphabetically by default.

A comment by Fernando mentioned that Google added a new Options links beneath the feed list next to Manage Subscriptions in Google Reader that makes it possible to select the default method of sorting the feeds. The option can be set to “alphabetical” or “my order”. Selecting alphabetical will sort all feeds alphabetical again. One interesting aspect of the choice is that users who choose alphabetical will not be able to move feeds around in the same folder in Google Reader. It is still possible to move them to another folder though.

If alphabetical has been selected as the default sorting option then the feed items will stay alphabetical in their folder and new items will automatically assume the correct alphabetical position in the folder that they are moved into.

This finally gives everyone who was frantically looking for a way to enable alphabetical sorting in Google Reader a way to enable it again.

The second option is to browse the categories that are available and handpick news feeds from the available options. Each category offers several categories that contain multiple feeds. The Technology category for instance contains Software, Internet and Apple subcategories that contain a handful of news feeds each.

It is unfortunately not possible to add RSS news feeds that are not in those lists which means for example that Ghacks cannot be subscribed to yet. The developers provide an email address where users can mail suggestions to though.

None, some or all of the subscribed RSS news feeds can be turned into podcasts which is the unique selling point of Pimp My News. The user can subscribe to these Podcasts, supported are iTunes but also any other software program where the user can subscribe to Podcasts (so called Podcatchers).

The quality of the recordings is fine. It is not the best and a computer is used to create the RSS audio but it is understandable. The podcasts can be copied to mp3 players like the iPod to listen to the news while on the go.

If you cannot find a default function in Firefox you can be very sure that some add-on developer has already developed a solution. In this case it’s the OPML Support add-on which adds the function to import and export opml files in Firefox. OPML files contain the RSS Feed information and can be imported into virtually any RSS Feed reader.

The two new functions are added to the Bookmark Manager which can be opened with the key combination CTRL SHIFT B. Both are available under the Import and Export menu. It takes some time to export the Live Bookmarks and Firefox will not be responsive during that time. The result is a opml file on the hard disk that can be imported into RSS Feed readers like Google Reader.

Newsgator, the company that developed the three applications, did not only announce that they would be free from now on but released new versions of their products at the same time. Users with a Newsgator account can use this account to synchronize their feed on several computers and devices.

I suggest you take a look at the individual websites for FeedDemon (Windows), NetNewsWire (Mac) and NewsGator Go (Mobile Devices) to read about the features and download the software if you like what you see. I will try out FeedDemon on my Windows XP system. I already spotted two nice features. The first is to prepare Feeds to be read offline and the second to find out my popular feeds and what other NewsGator users think is popular.

You can import various formats into FeedDemon including Opml which can be generated by many online and offline RSS readers including Netvibes and Google Reader.

The name of this new service is Feed Crier and I’m writing about it mainly because it delivers feeds to different Instant Messengers. Feed Crier supports AIM, MSN and Jabber / Google Talk and uses the same technology that Anothr is using. This means they run bots that are added to your Instant Messengers contact list who then post new RSS Feed items in a chat window.

Feed Crier requires no signup at all. Just enter your screename, the Instant Messenger that you are using and the url of the feed that you want to receive updates from. The Feed Crier website does not contain lots of information about bot interaction, the only two commands that I was able to find are list which lists all subscribed feeds and unsubscribe url which unsubscribes the feed specified.

What I like is that only the url of the updated news item is delivered which makes it easier to keep an overview.

It works by adding a bot as a contact in Skype. (I suppose it works the same way in MSN and Google Talk). Once the bot has been accepted as a contact it will add feed updates right into a private chat window displaying the usual summary and a link to the article on the original website.

Feeds can be added using the feed url of the feed or by exploring already existing feeds that other users have subscribed to. Feed delivery options can be modified to limit the amount of updated feeds at a time, set a delivery timeframe (great for work / sparetime), to send only the title, title and summary.

Lots of options at hand which makes Inezha, or how they call themselves Anothr, a valuable unique service that should appeal to many users. Instead of using the website interface users can communicate with the bot directly. Subscribing to feeds is possible by issuing the command “+ feed url” for instance.

The website was rather slow when I tested the service but since it is not necessary to use it at all after setting up an account and adding the bots to your Instant Messenger or Skype it is not a huge problem.

Feeds can be imported in the OPML format which is supported by many Feed readers including Netvibes and Google Reader.

As usual you have to supply your login details to be able to check the unread items in your Google Reader account. Several other configuration options can be changed such as the refresh time in second which is set to 120 minutes by default and how the extension handles clicks on the icons.

If you move the mouse over the unread count all categories that contain unread items are displayed with the amount of unread items next to them. This is great if you only want to read feeds from a certain category for instance.

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Google Reader Notifier Download
via Download Squad

The first time user has to enter his Google username and password so that the software can access Google Reader to check for new unread items. A click on the notification window will load Google Reader in your default browser. It is possible to specify a label so that Google Reader Notifier reports only unread items of that label.

homepage: Google Reader Notifier

Rss feeds in OPML format can be imported into the software which is great if you are already using another service such as Google Reader or Netvibes to display your feeds online. The news order of the rss ticker can be set to chronological, alternating and random.

If you do not have OPML data you can add single feeds to FeedLiner with ease. Folders and different colors change the layout of the feed catalogue which is helpful if you have a lot of feeds.

A little bit strange is that I found no way to delete the default categories and feeds that come preinstalled with the software. Most of them are in Czech which should only appeal to a handful of users who read this article. If you find a way to delete those folders and feeds let me know please.

It is also possible to increase the size and the speed of the news ticker. Hovering your mouse over an entry displays that entry directly as an overlay which is really nice if you want to quickly read something.

Feedliner is a unique rss reader distinguishing itself from others with its rss ticker display.

For Firefox you´ve got the Wizz RSS News Reader extension for instance or the Info Rss extension. Opera has this ability build in and Internet Explorer, well I don´t know about this one because I´am not using this software. (Only checking my sites design with it). So, you´ve got the internal feedreaders and you also got feedreaders that are external programs.

One of the greatest of them is called, guess what, Feedreader. The freeware works under Win98+, is completely open source, small in size and easy to use. Feedreader comes with a preinstalled list of feeds which you may select to keep or to remove after the installation. I suggest you keep them for now and delete them later when you find out that they are not useful at all.

You see some folders on the left like Tech or Entertainment. Clicking a folder opens the sites that you are currently subscribed to. Feedreader checks for new items now and will display some for every site.Whenever you click on a feed feedreader displays the latest articles, clicking on an article displays the article on the window to the right. Sometimes you can read the complete article, sometimes it´s only a preview of the article. A click on the articles title opens the web page containing that article.

Feedreader loads the articles by default in the same window that you clicked the article, to change that go to Tools -> Options and select Open link in default browser which opens all new links in your default browser.

Why are so many people reading rss feeds ? I think it´s mostly a matter of time. You can add as many sites as you want and all articles are displayed in one program. You don´t need to navigate to several websites, you find all news in that single program which is a great time saver if you ask me.