News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

February 19, 2007

software

NetNewsWire 3.0 evolution

Posted Feb. 19, ’07, 7:45 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Software

NetNewsWire Aaron already alerted you to the availability of the “d for danger” public development version of NetNewsWire 3. I’ll let you in on a dirty little secret. I’ve been using it for a while now. Brent Simmons is a hard worker and turns out a lot of builds for testers. Want proof? Check out his Twitter.

One thing that has become clear to me. Brent isn’t afraid of interface change. I won’t give details, but as much as has changed in the current version, even more has been in flux. However, he listens to his users and really takes feedback to heart and is open to alternate viewpoints. Sadly for 12” Powerbook users, the horizontal tab option is gone, but the ability to hide the subscription list when using a browser tab makes the omission far more livable, yielding approximately same amount of horizontal space.

NetNewsWire is good, very good. Some applications are good simply because the developer had a brilliant idea. NetNewsWire has features that are clearly Brent’s. Its staying power though, is fueled off his willingness to listen to his customers and respond in turn. I’ve regularly seen him bend over backwards to support what would seem to be a niche concern.

In its current state, NNW3 is another great version, but I’m really looking forward to what the rest of the development cycle will bring, particularly because I don’t know. It’s good to be good though.


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