Feed Readers

Web-based feed readers

Web-based feed readers (aggregators) give you an easy way to start reading feeds. Think of them as "Web-mail for RSS". Nothing to install, and you get instant gratification. :-) Most of them also provide a way to search for feeds on topics you're interested in.

Google Reader is simple enough for beginners, yet fast and powerful enough for most others. I use Google Reader because it integrates seamlessly with tabbed browsing, which makes it easy to quickly and easily skim *tons* of feeds.
Original Signal -- not exactly a feed reader, but it will give you an instant feel for what you can get with feeds.
Rojo is a simple, clean web-based feed reader that you might want to try first.
Netvibes is similar to Original Signal, but allows you to customize your content.
Bloglines -- easy to use, and you can easily search for all kinds of feeds. It is now much faster than it used to be.
Roundup of web-based feed readers
Both Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, which are web-based of course, include feed reading.
Browser-based feed readers

All major browsers now include basic feed reading, which is fairly easy to use. You can also beef your browser's native feed reader with add-ons, some of which are quite good.

Internet Explorer 7 has an integral feed reader, which you can enhance with Feed Plus, written by the IE RSS team at Microsoft.
LiveBookmarks for Firefox provides basic feed reading. The Brief feed reading extension is "Designed to be easy to use and streamlined, with exactly the right set of features." Feed Sidebar is another simple add-on, but it adds more convenience. Both extensions fully integrate with Firefox's Live Bookmarks.
If you're looking for something more powerful, try Wizz RSS News Reader or NewsFox for Firefox. There are more ideas at the Firefox Facts blog for reading feeds with Firefox.
Some email programs, like Thunderbird, also have built in feed readers. It's very easy to set up feeds in Thunderbird. [Use "Tools" > "Account Settings..." > "Add Account" > "RSS News and Blogs".]
Desktop feed readers

"Desktop" feed readers (they also work with laptops) are stand-alone programs that include a browser. (It's usually IE or Firefox in disguise.

FeedDemon is simply the best PC-based web feed reader there is, IMHO. (And it's now free.) FeedDemon seamlessly integrates with the Web-based NewsGator, so you have the best of both worlds.

You can also synchronize FeedDemon with Bloglines. FeedDemon has very good security, both for feeds and enclosures (feed attachments). [using FeedDemon] [FeedStation]

However, FeedDemon is not for everyone. It's arguably the most powerful feed reader around, but that means it takes longer to learn how to use than simpler readers do. I used it for for a few years, but I switched to Google Reader.

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