During CES, NewsGator has released its RSS readers for Mac and PC for free. On the Mac, it means that NetNewsWire, my favorite RSS reader and the tool I’ve relied on every day for years, is now free. For PC users, FeedDemon is now free.
Why a desktop RSS reader? Nick Bradbury does a great job of explaining what you get with a desktop reader instead of web-based one like Google Reader.
One of the great things about the NewsGator products sync their feeds and item status to NewsGator’s online service. You can then check your RSS feeds via the web or through the great iphone interface for NewsGator.
Why do I love NetNewsWire so much? The main reason is the key commands for browsing items. 90% of what you need to do can be done via the arrow keys. Ode to Apple has a great post on how to get the most out of NetNewsWire.
If you’ve been holding out on trying a desktop rss reader, now is a perfect time to give it a try.