NetNewsWire

What: RSS newsreaderand more

By: Ranchero Software

Cost: Single-user license, $24.95; multiuser licenses, $19.95 per person; Lite version, freeware

Download: www.ranchero.com

Clifford Colby, my long-suffering editor at Peachpit Press, says NetNewsWire is "the first software in years that changed how I work." Cliff subscribes to 30 or so RSS news feeds, from the Washington Post and eWeek to a friend's San Francisco Giants baseball blog. This application lets him check all the headlines in a couple of minutes and then read the pieces that interest him.

"There was no way I would accomplish much else if I checked 30-something Web sites throughout the day and didn't have a newsreader. I know Safari can show RSS feeds now, but I like how NetNewsWire displays and handles feeds."

The figure shows the news feeds Cliff follows, as displayed and managed by NetNewsWire.

Why I Like It: Like Cliff, I think news feeds deserve their own application (or should appear in a mail client). This is a very nice client.