Active Web Reader

If you want an RSS newsreader, Active Web Reader is one of the better ones available. This application offers all the standard features you need, plus a few extras that make it easy to get your news fast and all in one place. Active Web Reader comes with a sampling of feeds and Web sites you can explore in the three-pane interface common to most readers in this category. If you want to add your own feed, you can right-click a category, title the feed, and enter the XML link and how often you want it to update, and you’re done. The viewing window offers tabbed browsing and a brief summary of each story, so you can decide if you want to open a link. Our favorite feature is the ability to import your Internet Explorer bookmarks, so in addition to your RSS newsfeeds, you can check all your favorite Web sites. Our only criticisms of this reader are its reliance on Internet Explorer and the inability to drag and drop feeds into the interface. Active Web Reader offers an ease of use that’s unmatched in this category, and it remains free (though the developer would like your donation). Due to its mostly intuitive interface and excellent feature set, we recommend this newsreader for beginning as well as for advanced users.