I’m surprised at how few of my OS X-using pals aren’t using the RSS reader NetNewsWire. I think you may need to hit a certain threshold before a client-side RSS reader makes sense. If you read fewer than twenty or thirty feeds, it’s probably not worth investing time into downloading, installing, and learning a client-side reader: you get along fine with a web-based reader like Google News or Bloglines.

I subscribe to around two-hundred RSS feeds, and I think I pushed Bloglines to its usuable limit. About six-months ago, I downloaded the vaunted NetNewsWire, and I’ve found reading RSS feeds more pleasurable. Using an RSS client is like using an email client like Outlook instead of using a webmail service like Gmail or Hotmail. It requires learning a different set of user-interface controls, but  the interface eventually makes reading feeds a more pleasant and feature-rich experience.

One thing I haven’t liked about NetNewsWire is the presentation of news items. The default display style puts the post author at the bottom of the item. When I read blogs with multiple authors, I like to know who is writing before I start reading; I don’t like having to solve a mystery through exegesis or scrolling to the bottom of the page. NetNewsWire allows end-users to customize styles, but I haven’t had time to hack my own together, and a lot of the themes with authors at the top offend my aesthetic sensibilities. Yesterday, I downloaded and began using a style, Bullit, that isn’t too obnoxious and puts the meta-information at the top of the post. The headings are a bit larger than suit my fancy, but it’s my favorite style so far.

Just for grins, here’s a screenshot:

Perhaps this will help you understand what an RSS reader looks like.