FeedDemon 4.0 has been in testing for several months now, and if all goes well the final release will be here soon. This is a major new version with some big additions, including a new "My Stream" feature which provides a great way to keep up with frequently-updating status feeds such as those from Twitter and Facebook. You'll also find new newspaper views, support for Twitter's new authentication system (OAuth), and a host of smaller changes that customers have long requested.
New features aside, FeedDemon 4.0 is also significantly faster than previous versions, and synchronization with Google Reader is more efficient than ever. Plus, the interface has been streamlined and simplified to make it easier to use. Long story short, this is by far the best FeedDemon yet. If you don't want to wait for the final release, you can download a pre-release (beta) version here.
This new version also returns to FeedDemon's roots as a paid application. The final release of FeedDemon 4.0 will come in two flavors – Pro and Lite – which offer different feature sets. FeedDemon Pro will offer the full feature set and will require purchasing a serial number (price TDB). If you purchased a serial number for FeedDemon 3.0, there will be a nice discount when upgrading to the new Pro version. A free ad-supported Lite version with a reduced feature set will also be available.
This isn't 100% cast in stone yet, but the Pro level features at this point are:
- My Stream
- Prefetching
- Authenticated feeds
- Content Filters
- Podcast/enclosure downloading (via FeedStation)
- Newspaper styles
I am, of course, very interested to hear the reaction to this change. I know that nobody likes to pay for software, but continuing to make FeedDemon completely free just isn't practical. Developing and supporting FeedDemon takes a lot of time, and I hope you agree that it's worth paying for (or, if not, that you'll be happy with the free Lite version).
Actually I already paid for v.4, but I’m also somehow disappointed / not feeling that good about the fact that
“Content filters are awesome feature. But suddenly loosing free feature is far from awesome experience.”
you made on of my most-used (free!) features into an explicit pro feature! Also you did indeed change your licence model, even though mostly no one noticed:
You did change from Ad-supported FULL feature set to Ad-supported LITE feature set!! How is that an improvement in any way? Now I can’t/couldn’t choose between Ads and no ads – which frankly didn’t bother me much in and of itself – (maybe you noticed this was a too little annoyance for most people too and changed it for this reason :P) but rather “full” or “lite” feature-set!! Which is a whole different story!
So I’m kinda disappointed this was sneaked through this way, still of course I continue to support the development and bought the upgrade.
Hi,
I have paid for FeedDemon less than 2 mounth ago (10/17/2010) do I have to pay for it again?
Regards,
In the 4.0.0.20 the task bar icon doesn’t go away when I minimize FeedDemon and have the tray icon activated, in all 4.0.0.XX previous versions it worked normally, FeedDemon would minimize to the system tray and disappear from the task bar.