Blogs are Web documents. And that means you likely already have all the software you need to read blogs because they can be read by any Web browser on any platform.
If you need a Web browser, here are the links:
- Microsoft's Internet Explorer (Windows / Macintosh)
- Netscape's Communicator suite (Windows / Macintosh )
- Safari (Macintosh)
- Opera (Windows / Macintosh / Linux / Solaris / FreeBSD)
Many blog fanatics, though, use a new software tool called an aggregator. Aggregators read and interpret something called an RSS feed or an XML file. Don't worry about what these things mean. All you need to know is that, if you find a blog, look for an indication that the blog is published in an RSS, XML or ATOM format. If it is, there is an aggregator that lets you subscribe to that blog. You can then subscribe to lots of blogs and quickly skim through their content to find stuff you're interested in.
If you're interested in publishing your blog, you should also consider selecting a blog publishing tool that lets you publish in XML or RSS format.
Here are my favourite aggregators:
- On the Mac: NetNewsWire. A freeware version is available as is a paid version with some more features.
- On Windows: NewsGator: You have to pay for this software but its great benefit is that it delivers RSS feeds into Outlook so you can read your RSS feeds just as you would read e-mail.
- Check out some other aggregators from this collection compiled by some bloggers at Harvard University.
What are Webfeeds (and Why You Should Care)
Amy Gahran's primer on RSS feeds for both publisher and reader
Note: Blogs are not the only kind of content you'll find in an RSS format. An increasing amount of information is published in this format including news from Yahoo and press releases from the Canadian government.