Q: What is FeedDemon?

Nick: FeedDemon is the premier desktop RSS
reader for Windows. FeedDemon’s comprehensive feature set has made it a hit
with power users, while those new to RSS have praised its intuitive
interface for making it easy to get started.

Q: How does FeedDemon fit into NewsGator’s plans?

Greg: At the core of NewsGator’s system is
the NewsGator Online platform. This platform distributes user-selected
content to wherever a user might choose:

• Web edition - lets users read content on our subscriber web site

• Mobile edition - read content on a mobile phone or PDA
• Outlook edition - read content inside Microsoft Outlook
• Email edition - read content in an e-mail client
• Media Center edition - view content on a TV

What NewsGator lacked was a downloadable desktop product. FeedDemon, as the
leading Windows-based desktop aggregator, fills this gap perfectly, and we’
re excited to join forces with Nick to fill out the platform.

There is also some cool technology in FeedDemon (for example, the podcasting
support) that we’re looking forward to integrating across our product line
in the near future..

Q: NewsGator Online? Eh? I thought NewsGator was some kind of plug-in
for Microsoft Outlook.

Greg: Our first product was an Outlook
add-in, now called NewsGator Outlook edition. Since then, however, we’ve
added a lot of depth to our product line, and built a lot of new products
and services on the NewsGator Online platform. NewsGator is unique not just
because of its integration with Microsoft Outlook, but because our platform
supports the widest array of devices and user experiences, completely
synchronized, of anyone in our industry.

Nick: That’s actually what got me
interested…

Q: But Nick, I thought you were doing just fine. Why are you doing this
with NewsGator?

Nick: Well, over the past year I’ve heard
countless customers asking to be able to synchronize their feeds between
computers – they want to use FeedDemon at work, at home, while traveling,
etc., and not have to read the same articles again just because they’re
using a different computer. This has been – by far – the number one request
from FeedDemon customers. But doing this right required a server-side piece
that was beyond what my one-person company could handle, so I knew I needed
to join forces with someone. Then I read the “NewsGator platform roadmap”
post in Greg’s blog, in which he outlined NewsGator’s plans – and right then
I knew NewsGator was the company I needed to join with.

Q: Come on, Nick. You’re just selling to the highest bidder before the
market gets too crowded, right?

Nick: Sure I’d like to strike it rich –
wouldn’t you? But if I was in this solely for the money, I’d form a company
around FeedDemon myself and hire a team of programmers to maintain it. But
that would take me away from development, which is what I love doing. It
came down to this: keep developing FeedDemon as a one-man company and not be
able to take it where my customers need it to go, or team up with someone
who already has the technology in place that enables me to take FeedDemon to
a whole new level. I chose the latter.

Q: Are there going to be changes in FeedDemon as a result of this?

Nick: Certainly. The most obvious will be
that FeedDemon will integrate very closely with NewsGator’s online
synchronization platform, enabling using FeedDemon on multiple computers
while maintaining state – that is, unread/read/deleted status – between all
of them. You could even use FeedDemon on your home computer, NewsGator
Outlook Edition while at work, and NewsGator Mobile Edition while traveling,
and still have everything synched between devices.

Beyond that, having a server-side piece offers a lot of interesting
possibilities. Coupling a rich desktop client with a first-rate server-side
aggregator provides the best of both worlds: you get the power of a Windows
application *and* all the flexibility of a web-based approach. There have
been a number of features I’ve wanted to add to FeedDemon that required a
server-side piece – related items, the most talked-about articles, etc. –
which I can now provide.

Q: I’ve been a FeedDemon customer since the beginning. What will happen
to me?

Nick: So, here’s the deal: NewsGator uses a
subscription model, and FeedDemon will become part of their subscription
plans. All existing FeedDemon customers will get a two-year business
standard subscription for *free* - and this includes upgrades to FeedDemon.
In other words, you’ll get brand new versions of FeedDemon and a
subscription to NewsGator Online *free* for the next two years.

Q: I’ve been a NewsGator customer for a long time. Sounds like the
FeedDemon users get a lot of cool new stuff…what do I get?

Greg: All paying NewsGator subscribers will
be able to use FeedDemon for no additional charge. This will happen as of
the next FeedDemon release, scheduled for June.

I’m so excited about that I have to say it again. All premium NewsGator
subscribers will get FeedDemon for free!

Q: Is Nick going to work for NewsGator? Is he moving to Denver? What
will his role be?

Greg: Nick is indeed coming to work for
NewsGator, as Architect of Client Products. I’m personally very excited to
add Nick’s vision and expertise to our company. He’ll continue to work on
FeedDemon, but will also add his considerable expertise to our product and
platform strategy moving forward. Some of his focuses, other than
FeedDemon, will be on user interface and interaction design across the
platform, and some of the rich media development we’re working on. And I
think he’s moving to Denver.

Nick: Umm, no, I’m not actually moving.

Greg: Oh. There I go again – heh. Ok, Nick’s
not moving…but he’ll be spending a lot of time with our team in Denver
moving forward, and as I said, we’re all looking forward to working closely
with him.

Q: I thought NewsGator was all about Enterprise RSS. Isn’t buying
FeedDemon just a distraction from this?

Greg: NewsGator’s products are all based on
the powerful NewsGator Online platform – delivering the content you want, at
any time, on any device. FeedDemon completes this platform footprint in an
important way, by providing a strong presence on the desktop to add to the
strong e-mail client support we have for syndicated content. So FeedDemon
is helping us deliver on the “any time, any place, any device” vision – for
all of our customers, including enterprise customers.

In the future, FeedDemon will also be a client for our upcoming Enterprise
product (tentatively named NewsGator Enterprise Server), further extending
its value into the enterprise.

Q: Will FeedDemon become the basis for the downloadable applications
built for NewsGator Media Platform customers?

Greg: While many NewsGator Media Platform
(NMP) customers are completely web- and API-based, others prefer a
downloadable application. The first example of this is the News Hound
application that we’re delivering for the Denver Post.

These downloadable applications are currently not based on the FeedDemon
code base; however, moving forward, this may change. FeedDemon is an
extremely feature-rich application, and will become even more so as it’s
integrated more tightly with the NewsGator Online platform. This will be a
good fit for certain NMP customers who desire this level of functionality on
the client.

Q: How long will NewsGator continue to support TopStyle? Will there be
new versions of that product?

Nick: While the acquisition obviously came
to pass because of FeedDemon, NewsGator has made it clear that they’re
committed to TopStyle as well. This was an important part of the deal for
me. I use TopStyle every single day, and I personally couldn’t work without
it. I’m already working on TopStyle 3.12, which will be a free upgrade for
all TopStyle customers, and this will be released as a NewsGator product.

And to illustrate their commitment to TopStyle, NewsGator has already hired
Jack Brewster to help support it. Jack has been a frequent contributor to
my support forums over the years - sometimes I think he knows TopStyle and
FeedDemon better than I do – so having him on board will be a great help to
both myself and my customers.

Greg: Right. Like Nick said, we’ve already
added resources to support the TopStyle product, and we intend to continue
doing so indefinitely.

Q: Is NewsGator committed to continued development for FeedDemon? What
will happen with FeedDemon? How about TopStyle?

Greg: This is a strategic acquisition for us,
and we’re strongly committed to both products. We’ve already added
resources to support both products, and enhancements are already underway
for both FeedDemon and TopStyle.

Nick: Look, I can’t predict the future, and
I certainly couldn’t have predicted that HomeSite would be acquired by
companies that weren’t sure what to do with it. But I don’t sell my
products just to see them wither and die. If anything, this acquisition
breathes new life into my software – let’s face it, there’s a limit to what
a one-man company can do, and I reached that limit a long time ago!

For at least the past year, I’ve spent far more time doing support,
marketing and sales than I have doing actual design and development.
Joining forces with NewsGator enables me to focus more on development again,
and I’m really excited by that.

Q: What will happen to FeedDemon’s integration with Bloglines? Will be
it dropped? Improved?

Greg: FeedDemon will continue to work with
Bloglines as it does today. However, moving forward, we feel that the
features we want to add require stronger API and feature support than that
provided by Bloglines, so future development will concentrate on integration
with the NewsGator Online platform.

Nick: I’m sure it’s obvious that NewsGator
and Bloglines are competitors in the web-based aggregator arena, but we’re
not going to drop FeedDemon’s support for Bloglines. If you want to use
FeedDemon with Bloglines, you’ll continue to be able to do so. But given
that I’ve joined forces with NewsGator, you can expect that our focus will
be on improving FeedDemon’s integration with NewsGator’s online services.