Rss Readers

RSS readers are part of RssSyndication; you use them to read RssFeeds, either just the headlines, or the headlines and a short description (or even the whole text) of each item. You can click on any item to see it in it's regular web page context. Some readers use a web interface, some are a program separate from your web browser. Some readers let you easily post what you're reading to your own weblog (AutoBlogging).

Other lists of RSS readers (all incomplete):

from the RssFaq -- http://www.voidstar.com/node.php?id=142
Blogspace -- http://blogspace.com/rss/readers
SyndicEight -- http://www.syndic8.com/documents.php?Section=ProductDescr (mostly server software)
There's often a few in lists of WebLogSoftware

A few specific readers (more mentioned in the comments below):

PlucKyx MacOsx-non-web-based, nice filtering feature
RSS feeds in your MoZilla sidebar: http://www.theonering.net/staff/corvar/cgi-bin/sidebar-inst.pl
SlashDock and MulleNewz -- MacOsx docklings that put RSS headlines in hierarchical menus from a Dock icon -- MulleNewz can't set your own feeds yet, SlashDock is as of 2.0 a full application
For Newton: http://40hz.org/Raissa/
Try EmbeddingRssInWebPages (including wiki pages), which you could then read with your web browser.

I haven't really met the right RSS reader yet; see RssReaderWanted, and the review in PlucKyx. --JohnAbbe

I have not really done an extensive search but AmphetaDesk is great RSS reader/aggregator. All in PeRl?, cross platform and runs in the browser. --FozBaca

I installed it okay, and got some access to it through my browser, but things fell apart somehow, i forget how. Basically, i do not understand why there are so many web-based RSS readers, it's just slow. --JohnAbbe

I have been trying FeedReader for Windows and it's pretty good - slightly odd user interface, but it's fairly simple to use and is freeware. Crashes occasionally and is missing some features, but it generally works fine, and can sit in the system tray on Windows, popping up balloon alerts when new headlines arrive.

I've also tried Headline Viewer (heavyweight and rather complex) and HotSheet? (Java-based, installed via JavaWebStart?, rather slow to start up, and takes a lot of screen space for each story). --RichardDonkin

I also tried HotSheet? and found it cumbersome. FeedReader? looks good, but i'm not a Windows guy. I wonder if TinderBox will read RssFeeds? --JohnAbbe

Just found some new ones... NewzCrawler? is at http://newzcrawler.ugt.ru/ and is really good for Windows, much better than FeedReader? (which has a rather quirky user interface) and very feature rich. It seems to be freeware but may turn into shareware.

Also, there's FetchReader? at http://www.fetchserver.com/info_reader.html - a commercial RSS reader for Windows, together with a database info extractor for use on an RSS feed server. The most interesting part is the description of how it could be used to improve information flow in enterprises, e.g. to get a feed of alerts on business conditions such as over-long call centre queues. There's an article on RSS in the Enterprise at http://www.skippingdot.net/2001/12/17 - and a set of RSS links including readers at http://www.skippingdot.net/2001/12/13 . The skippingdot.net site is interesting - the idea is to use standards to get the equivalent of .NET without the MS Tax...

Things are looking up on the RSS reader front, but there really needs to be a better directory of RSS tools - I only found these by accident. --RichardDonkin

I've added a few directories Richard, please add others you find. Okay, i'm using PlucKyx for now. In my copious spare time, i'll try to post about these new readers to the RssFaq, which is probably the most complete (if a little dated) overall reference. Maybe we can get the Blogspace people to re-start their feed (shown in RssSyndication). It's last post was in August 2001, pointing to Julian's FAQ. --JohnAbbe