Using Google RSS News you have access to the last news updates of many topics, from brief reviews to complete notes from your desktop at any moment. Google RSS channels allow you to have immediate access to the last news and alerts with no need to access the Web page. Available topics: World, your country, Business, Science & technology, Sports, Entertainment, Health, Most popular, Top Stories.

Features includes customized news finder, language and country selection, automatic lunch with Windows, automatic load a specified topic, tray icon minimization, and save news content (HTML and text format).

Editor's review of Google RSS News

While you won't get a lot of extras with this simple RSS reader, it does give you quick access to updates from the popular search engine. Google RSS News' simple yet functional interface features an easy-to-use drop-down menu to choose among such topics as business, sports, and entertainment.

Selecting a topic displays a long list of related headlines for quick browsing. One click on a headline of interest opens a new window with an excerpt and links from the full article. There's even a search field to pinpoint a specific headline topic. The configuration menu makes it a snap to install desktop and Start menu shortcuts, and you can indicate your home country to make the feeds more relevant.

There's a proxy to get around a firewall or you can simply let Google RSS News autodetect your settings. We liked the easy-to-use option to choose a default topic that automatically displays related headlines each time you run the program. The reader can be positioned anywhere on your desktop, but it disappears under other windows when you aren't using it. The program is small and doesn't need installation. It would have been nice if it included extras like the option to e-mail stories to friends. Even so, users looking to stay abreast of the latest news will appreciate this freeware's efficiency.