RSS is a way for websites that update themselves (such as news sites and blogs) to push information out to interested users.

Install RSSOwl and select your favourite sites - look for the RSS Feed, XML, or RDF links (often an orange icon) on the site and follow the instructions - then whenever that site updates, the new information can be accessed easily through the program.

There are plenty of feeds suggested by RSSOwl to get you started but none download automatically to stop high dial up bills. RSSOwl can search the contents of feeds so there is little chance of losing and important story.

There is an internal browser (using Internet Explorer) so the full story can be read without leaving the software.

There are also versions available for Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris