What is RSS anyway?
What is RSS anyway?
RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a "feed," "web feed," or "channel," contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that's easier than checking them manually.
RSS content can be read using software called an "RSS reader," "feed reader" or an "aggregator." The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.
RSS readers - Windows
Omea - one of the most fully featured RSS readers out there; can get a little slow as its database grows; free in its basic version, also has a commercial, advanced version with more features
Mozilla Thunderbird - Mozilla’s e-mail and RSS reader, supports skins and add-ons
Awasu - RSS reader with a customizable user interface, the ability to synchronize with other readers, bookmarking and annotation, and republishing of your feeds
GreatNews - integrates with Bloglines, and offers a very fast way to browse through your feeds
RSS Bandit - RSS reader that offers organization of your feeds through folders, as well as synchronization across several installations
IntraVNews - an RSS reader that integrates with Microsoft’s Outlook.
SharpReader - requires .NET framework, lets you organize feeds into folders, integrates with Feedster, can display new items via system tray popups
eCruiser - an RSS reader in Japanese
Juice - a pretty basic RSS reader
Opera - Opera web browser comes with a fully featured RSS reader
FeedDemon - Newsgator’s feed reader offering a high degree of customization, newspaper-style feed reading, synchronization with other Newsgator products, and feed search
Snarfer - a free RSS reader, with key features being river of news style view, embedded video display, synchronization with Bloglines, powerful search and filtering
Active RSS Reader - simple RSS reader with a very small hard disk and memory footprint
Feed Amasser - a very lightweight, freeware RSS reader
FeedExpress - a freeware, open source RSS reader; quite basic, but with some nice features, for example CSS customization
Crackfeed - a tiny systray based application that notifies you with RSS news as they come
HappyFish - RSS reader and podcast client, requires .NET 2.0
Attensa for Outlook - RSS reader that fully integrates with Outlook, support OPML import/export, scheduling, republishing, and advanced feed organization
Briz RSS Reader - a very simple RSS reader
Particls - desktop RSS notifier and ticker with lots of options, also has a Firefox plugin
Anothr - RSS reader/bot for Skype/Gtalk/MSN
RSS readers - OS X
Newsfire - RSS reader for OS X
NetNewsWire - Newsgator’s RSS reader for the Mac comes in two flavors: commercial and free
PixelNews - a commercial Mac OS X RSS reader that comes with a huge database of feeds
Shrook - a Mac RSS reader which also has a web based version; supports synchronization, instant notifications via Growl, real time search, smart grouping and more
Vienna - a freeware, open source RSS/Atom newsreader, with a built-in tabbed browser and the ability to customize feed display
NewsLife - RSS reader for the Mac, pleasing to the eye, simple and easy to use
Squeet - another Mac RSS reader, currently on hiatus
RSS readers - Linux
Liferea - RSS reader for Gnome users
Akregator - RSS reader for KDE
Straw - RSS reader for Gnome, supports RSS and ATOM, as well as exporting/importing OPML feeds
Snownews - text based RSS reader for all you 1337 people
AgileRSS - desktop aggregator that is able to display any RSS, ATOM, and XML news feed; also offers an RSS news ticker
RSS Readers - cross-platform
RSSOwl - works on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Offers, among other features, a multi-pane, highly customizable interface, OPML and blogroll import, internal browser, and a search engine.
BottomFeeder Rich-featured multiplatform RSS reader (works on Linux as well as Windows and OS X), supports CSS customization, OPML import/export, and plugins.
BlogBridge - open source RSS aggregator that allows you to create dynamic feed reading lists
RSS readers - web based
Google Reader – In addition to tracking your feeds, Google’s popular RSS reader allows you to star items (like in Gmail), view trends in your feeds and reading habits, and recently added an option to read feeds offline.
iGoogle – Formerly known as Google Personalized Home, iGoogle allows you to include RSS feeds as part of your custom start page.
Netvibes - This personal homepage provider includes hundreds of “modules” you can add to your page from Hotmail to your Flickr photos, but also lets you create your own modules by simply entering an RSS feed URL.
Pageflakes – Another personalized homepage provider, Pageflakes functions similar to Netvibes, letting you select from pre-made modules or create your own by adding an RSS feed.
My Yahoo! – Still the most widely used custom homepage on the Web, My Yahoo now allows you to add RSS feeds alongside your weather, stock quotes, and news. Similar to Netvibes and Pageflakes, My Yahoo allows you to re-arrange your feeds with drag and drop features.
My Netscape – Netscape’s personal homepage service also includes the ability to add RSS feeds as content modules. An account also lets you participate in their Digg-like homepage voting.
Daily Rotation – A no-frills personalized homepage aimed targeted at techies, Daily Rotation includes recommended feeds from hundreds of tech sites, and also lets you add in additional feeds of your own choosing.
Rojo – A part of Six Apart, Rojo is a web-based reader that combines RSS aggregation with a community of sorts, showing what people are reading on their homepage.
Bloglines – One of the early online RSS readers, Bloglines “split screen” interface makes it easy to view the full content of any of your feeds. The service is part of the IAC family of sites.
Newsgator – NewsGator’s RSS reader allows you to organize your feeds in Windows-style folders that can be expanded and collapsed.
MySindicaat - an advanced online RSS reader with a tree-like feed layout, available in several different flavors, including a mini ticker and a mobile RSS viewer. It also has RSS mixing capabilities.
Fwicki - web based RSS reader that lets you create custom river-of-news style feeds.
NewsAlloy - a fast and full-featured web based RSS reader. Also has a mobile version.
Feeds 2.0 - a personalized RSS aggregator, that learns from your reading habits and displays relevant feeds
Mobile RSS Readers
NewsGator Go! – NewsGator’s mobile version syncs with user’s online accounts, allowing you to read their feeds on the go for $29.95.
LiteFeeds – Once downloaded to your phone, LiteFeeds allows you to browse your feeds, email articles to friends, or bookmark them to your del.icio.us account.
Egress – This program for Windows Mobile sports a clean UI and also supports podcasts. Egress is available for $12.95.
Mobispine – Mobispine is a free Java application for reading your feeds on your mobile. The service also includes a web component where users can add feeds to the Mobispine database, see related feeds, and leave comments.
Quick News – Designed for Palm OS, Quick News lets you download feeds either via a HotSync or a direct internet connection for later use, which enables offline (or out of coverage) reading.
Bloglines Mobile – The popular web-based reader also offers a browser-based mobile version to access your feeds without downloading anything.
FeederReader – This application is designed for phones running Windows Mobile, and bills itself as being especially well suited for developers, allowing you to view the RAW XML files for and its XML elements and attributes.
FreeRange – This Java application will work on Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry. The site has optional Google Reader integration.
Google Reader Mobile – If you use Google Reader, you can access a version designed for mobile phones.
ZapTXT for mobile - mobile version of the ZapTXT widget.