Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Freeware
Newsgator turns NetNewsWire free for everyone
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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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Think Adrian said 3:32PM on 1-09-2008
Still can't imagine why you need it at all. Safari's RSS reader is fine!
Update, read, close window, forget :)
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Daniel Beckham said 12:28PM on 1-10-2008
re: Think Adrian,
Rice is fine for the Japanese. Should the French stop eating bread? It's about choice.
Safari's RSS reader is fine for one-shot reads, but I keep up with quite a few different sites and NetNewsWire does a better job by far.
Andre said 3:32PM on 1-09-2008
"I don't know who hadn't bought NetNewsWire yet..."
I haven't, and even though it's now free I still have no intention of downloading it. Newsfire does the job just fine.
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dingo said 3:38PM on 1-09-2008
I've been using the RSS reader in Leopard's mail and its been fine.
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Aaress Lawless said 3:43PM on 1-09-2008
Excellent news! I've been waiting for the update to NetNewsWire Lite, but now I'll install the new version.
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Bob S. said 3:53PM on 1-09-2008
If I'm happy using Vienna, is there any reason to bother checking out NNW?
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Chris Thomson said 3:55PM on 1-09-2008
Bob: Syncing of your RSS items (and read/unread status) with the NewsGator.com service, so you can access them on multiple Macs, iPhones, iPod touches, anything with internet! :)
I'm really excited that NNW is now free (great job newsgator!), i've been using the Lite version, but now I am going to upgrade to the full thing.
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Ryan said 3:58PM on 1-09-2008
Sounds like information about your "attention data" is worth more than $30, so they could offset it.
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Mo said 3:59PM on 1-09-2008
To people who haven't tried NNW yet: now's your chance, risk-free!
It's probably the most feature-complete reader for Mac OS X, though I must confess I use it less now that Mail.app supports feeds. The feature I'd pay for NNW again for? The ability to keep subscriptions in sync between NNW and Mail.app…
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Mark Priestap said 4:00PM on 1-09-2008
Crap I just bought it last week! j/k
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jeff said 4:27PM on 1-09-2008
Mark,
You will get an automatic refund.
Galley said 4:26PM on 1-09-2008
Syncing feeds with an iPhone may get me to switch from NewsFire.
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Bob S. said 4:28PM on 1-09-2008
Thanks, Chris. I can see where that feature would be useful to some, but it isn't to me, so I'll leave things the way they are.
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Shahrum said 4:47PM on 1-09-2008
Use Google's API to sync subscriptions/tags/read items with Google Reader and I'll decide to use NNW again. Otherwise, as feature rich as Newsgator online may be, it just seems too cluttered and bloated.
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Khaled said 6:05PM on 1-09-2008
Yes, if it can sync with google reader then I would use it, but right now I will continue using Google reader
brian Mita said 4:49PM on 1-09-2008
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!
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Rae Whitlock said 4:56PM on 1-09-2008
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.
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bamble said 7:10PM on 1-10-2008
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.
Libb said 5:17PM on 1-09-2008
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.
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Gon said 5:34PM on 1-09-2008
Wow, I guess it hasn't been Mr. Watanabe's best week after all.
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