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Newsgator turns NetNewsWire free for everyone

by Mike Schramm Jan 9th 2008 at 3:00PM

Wow. I don't know who hadn't bought NetNewsWire yet, but if you haven't, consider your wait vindicated: most of Newsgator's products, including NNW, Newsgator Online, and FeedDemon (the Windows version of the popular RSS reader) have all gone free with version 3.1.

Brent Simmons, NNW's creator, is reportedly happy about the change, to say the least, and Newsgator isn't any less thrilled themselves-- they say that not only are they excited to spread the love around to everyone, but that they'll also be using "attention data" collected from the software (which hopefully sounds more ominous than it is... right?) to "deliver a better experience for everyone." Not so happy might be the folks who've paid for the products in the past-- Newsgator is offering an automatic refund to anyone who purchased them in the past 30 days, but anyone before that just has to live with the fact that they paid $30 to use the software at the time (not that it was a bad deal back then anyway). Those who subscribed to the Newsgator Online service will run out their current subscriptions, and then continue on without charge.

Version 3.1 of NetNewsWire features an updated interface with new toolbar icons, some performance and memory enhancements, and the ability to archive news items as HTML files, viewable in any browser. It is now available, for a completely free download, over on Newsgator's site.

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Wow. I don't know who hadn't bought NetNewsWire yet, but if you haven't, consider your wait vindicated: most of Newsgator's products,...
 

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artifex

AWESOME, because I just downloaded the Lite yesterday and finally discovered the goodness of having an external reader. Brent, you are so cool.

January 10 2008 at 12:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
glad

the lite version has always doen the job for me but well done for making it free!

January 09 2008 at 9:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

i like the desktop application over reading in a web browser because i can create smart folders that auto populate.

i subscribe to hundreds of music blogs and create a smart folder based on a bunch of music keywords. articles that contain those keywords are then auto added to the smart folder. saves me from visually skimming hundreds of posting that i don't care about.

syncing across computers so i don't re-read articles is another big bonus.

January 09 2008 at 8:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim

Interesting...I'm guessing free web based sites like Bloglines and GoogleReader have more to do with this than anything. Maybe I'll check it out and see what it offers. I've already started using Mail's rss in addition to my Bloglines account which has been great.

For those curious why I use two is that I place rss feeds in Mail for developers's sites that I have purchased software from. All of my more general news oriented material stays in Bloglines. I've been considering breaking that up more though so another decent reader would be great...was considering Vienna but this might be better depending on how I like the interface.

January 09 2008 at 6:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alan

I was a paid user but abandoned NetNewsWire about six months ago. Syncing with NewsGator has never worked properly (when it does seem to work, items go missing and you don't realize you're not seeing them), so I had to keep it running all the time or I'd miss things on fast-moving sites. Plus it was a memory hog.

Google Reader is fast, and their server is always on, always monitoring feeds, and doesn't seem to miss things. Now that it has search, I can't see myself ever going back to NetNewsWire.

January 09 2008 at 6:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Alan's comment
Mark S

I actually don't have too many problems using NewsGator for syncing. It almost always works as it should. .Mac syncing on the other hand has rarely worked well for me.

January 10 2008 at 1:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
I can't imagine why I should use it, when there are so many much cooler desktop clients like google reader or the new mindity (

I can't imagine why I should use it, when there are so many much cooler desktop clients like google reader or the new mindity (www.mindity.com)
greetings

January 09 2008 at 6:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Gon

Wow, I guess it hasn't been Mr. Watanabe's best week after all.

January 09 2008 at 5:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Gon's comment
brian Mita

I'd hate to see what happens if he shows up at MacWorld.

January 09 2008 at 10:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mark S

LOL No kidding. Maybe he will make NewsFire ad-based now so he can compete? NewsFire's a good RSS reader but it really doesn't hold a candle to NetNewsWire.

January 10 2008 at 1:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bill

I'll download it and run it parallel to my Vienna set up to see which I like more. I frankly haven't really used either much lately, but I'll give them both a shot to get back in my good graces.

January 09 2008 at 5:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rae

I've yet to understand the appeal of desktop feed readers over web-based apps like Google Reader. That said, I'll be giving NNW a try, just to see why everyone falls all over themselves about it. I tried Newsgator Online earlier today and it was a horrible experience, so my expectations aren't exactly high.

January 09 2008 at 4:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Rae's comment
bangler

I've yet to understand the appeal of web-based readers over a desktop software solution. These web apps aren't really a good replacement yet. Google Gears is a start, but there's still the issue that plagues much cross-platform software - it feels nothing like the environment you're using it in. I use Mail to read my gMail, because it's a much nicer experience... That said, I know I can get to the web app any time I'm out and don't have my computer with me... Having a reader that synchs up with a web-based reader does sound like a good idea to me.

January 10 2008 at 4:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
brian Mita

Congratulations, you get to drink from the firehose!

http://web.mit.edu/snively/Public/Firehose.jpg

seriously though, I've been checking out a lot of RSS readers lately and newsgator makes the most sense, with the phone and all. this is great news!

January 09 2008 at 4:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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