Part 2 of in a series. RSS NewsReaders will help your old mouse grab the news as it happens!
In part one of this article I introduced you to the RSS and small software programs called Newsreaders. Now, let's take a look at some of those...
NetNewsWire is a fairly easy-to-use RSS Web news reader for Mac OS X. It utilizes a three-paned interface layout and is very similar to Apple Mail and Outlook Express. It plugs into the RSS stream and can fetch and display news from thousands of different websites and weblogs, making it quick and easy to keep up with the latest news.
Best feature: you can set it to remember which items you've read, and lets you know when there are new items, so you spend less time surfing.
NetNewsWire is not free. It's $39.95. So if you're unsure if you will really like surfing the RSS, you might first try one of the free online services like Rocket Reader. But if you get the fever, then NetNewsWire is certainly a good one to move up to. (A pre-Jaguar version is available.)
NewsHunter is another of the better packages for the Mac.
NewsHunter can download everything in your favorite newsgroups or just the articles you select. NewsHunter supports yEnc, UUE, MIME, Base64, and other popular encoding schemes. It also offers the capability to directly download pictures, movies, and files from newsgroups; then lets you monitor the progress. During the download process the viewer shows the assembled preview and lets you see images and delete the ones you don't like.
Best feature: Filters allow you to ignore offending authors (keywords) and set items of interest to download everything from authors you like. (You can also use it to post images as well!)
A "Lite" version is available that is free: NetNewsWire Lite 1.0.7
Download now NetNewsWireLite1.0.7.dmg.gz File Size: 2.43MB
Browse your e-mail and news offline. Mac OS X Free to try, $20 to buy. Download Now MacSOUP-2.6.dmg File Size: 1.22MB
Browse files, images, and discussions with this Usenet reader. OS: Mac OS X, License: Free
Download Now Unison1.0.2.dmg, File Size: 1.1MB
This one brings you the pictures you want from the Usenet. OS: Mac OS X Free to try, $13 to buy
Download Now PicturePatrolOfficerX11EN.sit File Size: 2.01MB
Post your files to newsgroups automatically. OS: Mac OS X. License: Free; Download Now Ibis.dmg.sit File Size: 256K
Take advantage of this full-featured Internet newsreader which is free to try, $49 to buy. Requires: Mac OS 9.x/OS X. Download Now HW_Installer.bin File Size: 4.3MB
Website: www.asar.com
Read Weblogs in Apple's Mail client. OS: Mac OS X. License: Free to try, $10 to buy. Download Now MailLog095.zip File Size: 137K
Find and read Usenet messages. OS: Mac OS X. License: Free. Download Now MT-NewsWatcher32.img.sit File Size: 1.22MB
Preview newsgroup pictures before actually downloading them. OS: Mac OS X - License: Free to try, $35 to buy. Download Now diivax.sit File Size: 494K
Download a threaded Usenet newsreader. OS: Mac OS 8.x. License: Free. Download Now MT-NewsWatcher31.sit File Size: 1.34MB
If you try any of the above products, be sure to let me know, or use the User Group Network software review form to pass along your experience. As RSS and the world of news aggregation expands outward, I'm sure many more products will appear.
Until next time, happy mousing.
Fred Showker, Editor/Publisher UG Net News
Fred Showker is co-editor of "MUG Info Manager," the User Group Network News service, and a founding Apple User Group Advisory Board (UGAB) member. He was an original founder of the User Group Forum on AppleLink Personal Edition which became America Online in 1988 ... read more
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