Before I fell into the world of shareware, I worked in the bowels of corporate America developing client-server applications. And I hated it.

Perhaps the thing I hated the most was that I rarely talked with the people who ended up using my software. I was given a list of requirements, told what was expected, and that was it. I never found out whether my work met the needs of those using it, never got to ask them how I could improve it, never knew if my software was a blessing or a burden to them.

Apparently that was smart business, because the companies I worked for charged their clients an obscene amount for my work. But it was a lousy way to write software. The whole point of writing software is to create something useful to create something that, even if in a small way, makes someone's life better. And how can you know whether you're doing that if you don't talk with the people who use your applications?

I broke out of corporate development by getting lucky with HomeSite, which I never expected to become as successful as it was. Looking back, it's clear that its success wasn't because it was a killer application (it wasn't), but because I opened the floodgates and directly communicated with my customers. HomeSite wasn't a very polished application (honestly, the UI is hard for me to look at now), but by talking with customers I ensured that it met their needs, which is the best any developer can hope for.

It seems so obvious: if you want to develop software that's useful to people, you've got to talk with them. But too many developers take the anti-social approach and consider customer support to be beneath their status. Besides, talking with customers would distract them from important code-slinging.

Look, I can understand that viewpoint, especially if you're working on something that's very popular. You can't create anything if you spend all your time doing support. But avoiding support completely is a big mistake.

If you've never supported your own software, spending just one day doing tech support will be an eye-opening not to mention humbling - experience. You'll have to keep your ego in check, because most people who contact tech support do so because they're having problems with your software, some of whom will use colorful language to describe the annoyances they're running into.

But that's the stuff you need to hear. You need to hear it because you're the one who can solve those annoyances. You're the one who can get rid of all the things that prevent your software from being that kick-ass program that people recommend to their friends and co-workers.

You also need to hear an unfiltered view of what people want your software to do for them. If you rely solely on your tech support team to tell you the features that customers want, chances are you'll develop those features without really knowing why people want them.

And that's not meant as a criticism of your tech support team. When NewsGator was still doing tech support for FeedDemon, they did an excellent job of answering people's questions and forwarding feature requests to me. But I would still follow-up with customers to figure out exactly why a feature was necessary, and quite often it turned out I didn't really need to add a new feature, but instead needed to change how an existing one worked. A lot of feature requests were the result of people being annoyed with how an existing feature worked, and they wanted some way to get around it.

If you really want to write useful software, stop spending all your time keeping up with technology. Don't worry if your resume isn't filled with the latest buzzwords. Instead, invest your time in talking with your customers. They don't care what programming language you use - they only care whether your software meets their needs, and the best way to ensure that is by breaking out of your cone of silence and opening the lines of communication.

Now that Microsoft's Bing search engine is live, I figured I'd create a "search definition" for FeedDemon to simplify subscribing to Bing search feeds. Here's how to use it:

1. View this page in FeedDemon, then click here to install the Bing search definition
2. Click the Subscribe button, then type the keyword you wish to search for and click Next
3. Select "Bing" from the list of search engines and click Next
4. Select the folder you want to place this feed in, then click Next
5. Click Finish

After installing this search definition, you'll also be able to search Bing directly from FeedDemon's address bar. Before you can do this, though, you'll first need to select Bing as your search provider from the search button at the right of FeedDemon's address bar, like this:

Note that FeedDemon's address bar supports all of Bing's advanced search keywords, including the feed: keyword which enables finding RSS feeds about a specific topic (ex: type feed:fitness to find fitness-related feeds).

Update: FeedDemon's automatic error reporting shows that there's a bug in older versions of FeedDemon which may cause a file access error downloading the above file when not logged into Windows as an admin. This bug was fixed in FeedDemon 3.0 RC2.

Dare Obasanjo believes that RSS readers which are modeled after email clients are broken:

it seems to me that the way we think of RSS readers needs to fundamentally change. Presenting information as a news feed where the user isn't pressured to read every item or feel like a failure is one way to move the needle on the user experience here.

I couldn't agree more. The fact that FeedDemon's Panic Button is one of its most popular features is a clear sign that information overload resulting from RSS as email is a problem among my customers.

It's no secret that I regret designing the first version of FeedDemon to work like an email client, and every version since then has been an attempt to drag myself and my customers (some of them screaming and kicking) away from that model. It's been such a slow crawl out of that hole that I've often considered building something brand new instead of trying to morph FeedDemon into a tool that doesn't make information consumption a chore.

But then I come to my senses, realize that I love being able to focus on FeedDemon, and get back to making it into the application it should be :)

So what do I think it should be? I think an RSS reader should enable you to read individual feeds if that's what you're into, but at the same time it should sift through the noise and find the articles that interest you.

Many services attempt to do that by aggregating the most popular articles around the web, but I'm not a fan of that approach since it brings you too much stuff you don't care about (you might not, for example, care about Britney Spears regardless of whether everyone else does). Instead, my approach has been to have FeedDemon pay attention to the stuff you're paying attention to, and use that to locate the stuff that's most relevant.

You can see this most clearly in features like Popular Topics (which shows you the most popular articles across all your feeds), and the new dashboard-like start page in FeedDemon 3.0. If you're unfamiliar with FeedDemon, or you're not using the FeedDemon 3.0 Beta, here's what they look like (click to enlarge):

These are the kinds of features I want to focus much more on in FeedDemon. I want to eventually build a tool that automatically brings you the stuff that's important to both you and the people you follow with as little effort from you as possible and without violating your privacy in the process.

In my mind the RSS as email approach has been dead for quite some time, and it's been a while since I invested in email-like features. The real question is whether long-time users of RSS readers are ready to give up how they're used to consuming their feeds (?).

Among the trickier things in software development is getting your application translated into different languages. Beyond making sure you provide enough white space in your UI for longer strings of translated text, simply getting your app localized can be an awful lot of effort, and it often causes your product to be delayed while the translators do their work.

The traditional Windows approach is to store displayed text in a separate resource DLL that's linked to your application at runtime. Instead of taking this approach with FeedDemon, though, I chose to store language strings in an external XML file (an "FDLANG") which is parsed at startup. This way, third parties can create translations using any editor they like, and no extra compilation is required.

FeedDemon is designed to recognize hyperlinks to FDLANG files, so installing a new language file is incredibly simple - just click the FDLANG hyperlink, and FeedDemon will download the language file and ask whether you want to use it right away.

If you'd like to try this yourself and you're using FeedDemon 2.6.0.21, stop by the FeedDemon Language Files Page to download and install additional languages. Translations for Chinese, French, Italian and Polish are currently available (if you're aware of additional language files for the latest version of FeedDemon, please let me know by posting a comment here).

All of these language files were created by individuals who simply wanted to see FeedDemon support their native language. It's a tedious process translating so much text, and we owe these folks a great deal of thanks for spending their time doing this.

PS: If you're thinking about creating your own translation, be sure to modify the constant value named S_TranslatorCredit in the FDLANG file. This value appears at the top of FeedDemon's "About" box so you can get some credit for your work.

PPS: If you change languages and want to switch back to English, look for the "Language" submenu:

Last week, we wrote ten advantages of using FeedDemon over Google Reader. Some readers however complained that it was an unfair comparison because Google Reader is free while FeedDemon costs $30.

It was such a beautiful coincidence because the next day, FeedDemon 2.6 was released as a free software so that further tilted the scales in favor of FeedDemon.

If you are still not convinced, Nick shares some more reasons for choosing a desktop reader over web based newsreaders like Google Reader and Bloglines:

1. Secure Feeds - Most web-based readers can't subscribe to secure feeds (RSS feeds that require a password - like the Gmail Inbox feed).

2. Offline Reading - FeedDemon doesn't just download your articles so you can read them offline - it can also prefetch the images they contain and the pages they link to, enabling you to browse the web without an Internet connection.

The only advantage of using a web reader is that you can access your feeds from multiple computers without having to install any software.

But consider this - Newsgator has special clients for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and the iPhone. And Mac users can get NetNewsWire which is also free and quite powerful.

FeedDemon vs Online RSS Readers - Round II - Digital Inspiration

Wow - the response to the new, free FeedDemon 2.6 has been tremendous! I hope you'll forgive me a little self-promotion, but I wanted to share a sampling of the reaction to the new release...

Development on a Shoestring:

"You need to download FeedDemon now! I don't care what other RSS reader you use, this one is better. The only reason I could conceive before now not to use it was the cost, but seeing as that's now no longer an issue, everyone needs to use FeedDemon."

Family Man Librarian:

"Updates to feeds are incredibly fast, much faster than I have ever experienced in any other reader. This is a huge deal for me and is the main reason I have often become infuriated with Bloglines in particular...Did I also mention that FeedDemon has built-in integration with my favorite desktop-based blogging tool, Windows Live Writer?"

publicvoid.dk:

"FeedDemon has made me use RSS more than I did in the past because I don't have to worry about reading my feed in multiple locations...while Google has done everything possible to make this happen in their web interface it's simply no match for a well designed desktop application."

CyberNet:

"We have been using FeedDemon for quite awhile (we're actually paid customers), and it is by far the best feed reader for Windows. It can handle hundreds of feeds without stuttering, and the fact that it's now free makes it irresistible!"

Not So Relevant:

"I have seen blog posts appearing almost two hours earlier in FeedDemon than in Google Reader....FeedDemon is a very good feed reader."

WinExtra:

"I'm definitely a winner when it comes to my favorite RSS client...Thanks to Nick and the whole NewsGator team for this ongoing gift."

The Global Geek Podcast:

"What the heck are you doing reading this still? Go see why I think FeedDemon is the best feed reader that you can get for FREE!"

Digital Inspiration:

"The new upgrades from web based RSS readers like Google Reader or Bloglines are tempting but none of them still match the desktop based FeedDemon."

Wolfstar:

"I've long been a fan of FeedDemon as in my opinion it is by far and away the best RSS reader on the market. So good that it was worth paying for, even though most of its competitors were free. Well FeedDemon is even better as NewsGator (the company that acquired the product) has made it free."

Explananda:

"I've used FeedDemon...as my RSS aggregator for several years now. I see that it's now being offered for free, which is a very good deal indeed, since it is one of the only pieces of software on my computer that I was happy to pay for."

Stealthpuppy:

"Great news - the gold standard of RSS/Atom/Feed readers on Windows is now free. I've been using FeedDemon for two years now and I can't praise it enough. The free love continues too, because NewsGator Go! and NetNewsWire are also free."

Peter Holloway:

"Way Hay! My favourite RSS reader is now available for free...This is a great piece of software, and to have it as a free download is even better."

PreMagination:

"FeedDemon is one seriously polished, top notch app, that gets even better because the NewsGator backend keeps everything synchronized across multiple platforms."

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to blog about FeedDemon, especially long-time customers who continue to use and recommend it!

Amazing. I've already spotted several warez sites that offer supposedly cracked versions of FeedDemon 2.6, despite the fact that FeedDemon is now free.

That's right, folks - instead of safely downloading the free version from our site, you can download it from a warez site, where it may come with all sorts of bonus payloads!

NewsGator is giving away desktop feed readers FeedDemon, NetNewsWire, and NewsGator Inbox. The company hopes to regain any loss of revenue from its desktop business with new enterprise sales leads and better attention metadata. The company announced the change in pricing in a press release today and a blog post by founder Greg Reinacker.

NewsGator's desktop feed readers previously cost about $30 each and faced some commoditization through feed reading software bundled with modern operating systems, office suites, or competitive open-source solutions. Windows client FeedDemon needs to compete with feed reading capabilities built-in to Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 7 or open-source clients such as RSS Bandit. Apple client NetNewsWire competes with Mail.app in Leopard and open-source freeware such as Vienna. NewsGator Inbox competes directly with Outlook 2007.

NewsGator differentiates its desktop client offerings from the competition through the NewsGator Online hub. Each client filters its requests for feed data through the centralized online service and synchronizes each user's list of subscriptions, read/unread items, shared snippets, and more. NewsGator plans to use the extended user base available via its free clients to fine-tune relevancy and other metrics available through uniquely identifiable attention data.

[B]y using your data, in combination with aggregate data from other users, we can deliver a better experience for everyone. And that's a good thing - both for us and for you.

Each desktop application can also sync with a local activity hub NewsGator is selling within enterprises. They hope free tools will infiltrate corporate America to generate new sales leads and internal advocates for bigger licensing fees.

Summary

NewsGator's move to free is an interesting risk for a changing business. Competitors such as Attensa do not have a similar strength in the desktop client space, and NewsGator will continue to worry about Microsoft shipping an update to SharePoint that could shake up their enterprise market. In the mean time thousands of consumers will be able to download quality software for free, and the small desktop clients can continue developing cool new features funded by enterprise usage.

Update: Nick Bradbury, creator of FeedDemon, shares his thoughts on the freebies on his blog.