New York Times Reader (beta)
The New York Times has a dedicated reader program that has been in open beta since September 27th that allows users to read the Times on their computer in a way that more closely matches the experience of reading the dead-tree newspaper. Although I'm not a huge newspaper fan, I downloaded this application and it really is enjoyable to use. The New York Times Reader software relies on Microsoft's new .Net framework 3.0, which can make the installation take a bit of time if you don't already have it installed. I already had .Net 3.0 installed, so the reader installed in about two minutes. Once it launched, it failed to synchronize with the server, but shutting it completely down (including the system tray icon that stays running) and restarting it fixed that problem. The layout is well optimized for reading, splitting content into rows of a reasonable width. It also does a very good job of dynamically optimizing the text layout based on how large the window is sized. Ads are included in an unobtrusive way, and I've found that when reading in a smaller Times Reader window, ads are removed to make more room for content.
The download (and use of the software) requires a free NYT account.
Thanks to Download Squad tipster Bob Rudis for the link.
