SyndARn

This free RSS reader has one thing going for it: it comes with hundreds of feeds. Unfortunately, those feeds are housed in a cluttered user-interface.

We were immediately overwhelmed by SyndARns default interface. There's a lot going on in the window, which is laid out in three panels. One panel houses the feed channels, another houses the nodes found within a selected channel. The main panel displays the feed and the feed-source page. We were able to alleviate some of the clutter by selecting a different layout style. You can also read a feed by placing your mouse over it, but the textbox on top of the already cluttered interface could give you a headache. The Help feature didn't work, so novice users should stay away. Despite the poorly designed user-interface, the program itself works. Each feed that we selected appeared in the main panel. We were also able to add our own feeds by entering the URL.

There are so many effective and well-designed RSS feed readers, including other freeware options, that users can afford to be selective. We suggest you choose one that's easier on the eyes.