(For you who don't know what RSS is it is basically an xml stream that shows the updates to page, the latest news articles for example. It a really convenient way of keeping a jour with the latest goings on. Atom is basically the same thing from a user's perspective.)
It was quite ok up until now but my list of RSS subscriptions just kept growing the results of the RSS feeds started to get tangled up when seaching for important correspondance and I had to access the context menu in order to open up the links without switching foreground application. So I decided to migrate to a dedicated RSS program. But which one?
So I started looking around for a suitable replacement. I found two articles about RSS on Mac OS X which suggested that I should look at Vienna, NetNewsWire and NewsFire.
Before I start writing about my findings I want to point out that these are three free programs. So independent of which one you choose you are still getting a pretty sweet deal.
So on to the test:
NetNewsWire 3.1.7NetNewsWire has been around since 2005 and has support for all the features that a RSS devotee would ever need. My first impression was that the user interface was somewhat ugly compared to the other RSS-readers. However as continued to use the product I came to see beyond the exterior and really appreciate the niceties that dwell within. NetNewsWire has support for not only exporting and importing but also preserves groups, feeds can be renamed an rearranged to ones pleasure and when clicking on a folder only the unread items are shown. The interface is a variation of a two-panel selector pattern (like Apple Mail or Outlook) with a list to the left with the feeds. The main window shows the posts of the selected feed/feeds or unread items in a group and the bottom part shows the selected post. When opening links they can either be opened in the default browser or in the program itself. The tab heads are then presented as previews of the page in question (like OmniWeb!).
Pros
+ Rearrangement and renaming of feeds
+ Shows only unread items when clicking on a group (really handy)
+ OmniWeb style previews of the opened web pages
+ Very tailorable (almost every aspect can be changed in the preferences)
Cons
- Somewhat unpolished icons compared to the competitors.
NewNewsWire in action
NewsFire Version 1.5 (74)I was really impressed with NewsFire when I started to use it. The interface is really sleek and icons and transitions add to that feel. However after a bit of testing it became obvious that the interaction model that NewsFire champions is quite clunky. Unlike the other applications that use variations of the two-panel selector pattern to present information NewsFire uses the menu drilldown pattern (like iPod). That means that when clicking on a post in a feed to read the expanded information you are moved one level deeper and loose overview. To go back to post list the feed has to be clicked again. I can imagine that this is really handy when screen real estate is limited but on a MacBook Pro it is just plain annoying. Apart from the non optimal interaction model there is no support for renaming feeds or rearranging them.
Pros
+ Really sleek icons and transitions
Cons
- Annoying interaction model
- No support for renaming and rearranging feeds.
- Placement of search field is non standard
Vienna 2.3.1.2302Vienna is the only open source application in the lot. It has sleek icons (not as nice as those of NewsFire). It has support for rearranging and renaming feeds and preserves groups when importing and exporting. The interface is a variation of two-panel selector just like NetNewsWire and it works equally well here. I was initially really pleased with this application until I discovered what I perceive as a major flaw: when using the arrow keys to key through the posts of a feed you can't be too fast, otherwise they won't be marked as read. This means that when I go through non interesting posts to get to the one I want to read I have to adjust my speed so that they feeds that I key past get loaded and marked as unread. Annoying to say the least.
Pros
+ Rearrangement and renaming of feeds
+ Very tailorable (almost every aspect can be changed in the preferences)
Cons
- Keying through a list won't mark the items as unread
- Search field is sort of floating in the toolbar just left of where you would expect it
And the winner is...
NetNewsWire 3.1.7If it wasn't for the annoying timing issue when using the arrow keys to navigate the posts in Vienna this would have been a much tighter race. NetNewsWire might not look as nice as the other RSS readers but once you see beyond that it's still a winner because of such nice features such as the clever group view and the previews acting as tabs when opening links.
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