Web-based RSS readers: These things just keep coming

A pet peeve of mine is devoting time and energy to an issue or problem that I’d previously considered solved. (Just ask my wife.) So, it’s with a certain degree of dismay that I present yet another roundup of web-based RSS readers, even though I already did this a few months ago. But, interesting products keep being released, and I’m compelled to look at them. Such is my burden.

To recap, my previous favorite was NewsGator Online, because of its clean and simple layout. It has plenty of features but the site is still very polished and professional, making it easy for the user to grasp. At some point in the future, they will offer synchronization of feeds and articles to NetNewsWire, and I will be a very happy man when that day comes.

I think it’s still my overall favorite, but if you want a few more features, I suggest Rojo. It embraces “Web 2.0” stuff a bit more, with the ability to tag feeds and posts. I understand the allure of tags for organization, having substituted them for categories on this blog. Also, the use of AJAX makes it seem faster than NewsGator in some areas (but only by a little). All in all, it’s very solid but I can’t imagine using it once the NewsGator-to-NetNewsWire syncing is in place…that’s just a killer feature.

If you need even more features than something like Rojo offers, check out NewsAlloy. It’s a bit much for me, but there’s probably an audience out there for it. The user interface is a rip-off of Gmail, which is an interesting choice. Unfortunately, NewsAlloy seems to have carried over its unimpressive look-and-feel without including the innovative features that make it a step forward for e-mail. It also has a very beta-like, not-quite-ready quality to it.

A fairly exhaustive list of readers is available at Listible, an interesting site in and of itself.