I had been planning on starting a section on Apps for Windows since some time now, and no better way to start with version 2 of one of my favorite applications, The New York Times Reader. Previously based on WPF, and now shifted to Adobe Air, for cross platform compatibility, the new Times Reader 2.0 is available for Windows, Linux and OS X users. It contains some new enhancements over version 1, but most of the changes have been cosmetic. It really looks as if it was designed for the Mac only, if you take a cue from the new UI. It’s clean and slightly gray, with excellent typography and streamlined navigation. While the application itself is free, along with some of the news sections, you’ll have to shell out $3.45/week for full access. That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the free version though, as it could cater most users very well with its variety of content. The available news sections increases on Sunday, with Magazine being the added free section for that day with several other paid ones.

With Times Reader 2.0, latest news are just a click away!

As I said earlier, the typography of this application is excellent and wont be a burden on your eyesight even after hours of reading. To facilitate users, there’s an option of 3 font sizes, with medium being the default one. The text accommodates the size of the application window very efficiently and resizing will increase the amount of visible text in many cases.

Archives can also be viewed at the click of a button. The drop down list gives you access to a week of archives.

Something I wish newspaper had is search. Times Reader 2.0 has this feature and it’s extremely useful to jump the article you’re looking for.

A Cover Flow-ish interface is available which can be accessed by clicking the browse button on the top left next to the front and back navigation buttons. You can get a glimpse of the first pages of news articles from each available category. Left and right arrow keys can be used to navigate between different news articles where as up and down arrow keys can be used to move between different categories.

The settings page looks directly inspired from OS X as well, specially the on/off button for the system tray icon. The number of issues that can be stored is maxed out to 7 days by default. The time interval for checking for latest news can also be changed. If you have a New York Times account you can log in using it. You’ll be able to email new article easily with your email address then.

This is what you’ll see when emailing a news article to a friend. It’s very helpful and I’ve already shared a few news articles with friends. The icon for sharing articles is located next to the text and print icons.

Most E-mailed articles have their own section.

Crossword fans rejoice! The application ahs Crossword build right in which updates daily, so you can now enjoy it on your computer at any time you want.

The about box is as polished and clean as the rest of the application.

The News in Video section is very nice. It has a high quality option for viewing videos which really is pleasant to see. The videos play right in the application and it’s a very smooth experience overall. Although the Browse feature doesn’t work on News in Video section as it does in other sections.

News in Pictures is another excellent way to get quick glimpses of happenings around the world. Really useful if you’re a skimmer.

Overall, this application is a must have for anyone who wishes to read news on their computer. Oh, and did I mention it gives you offline access to everything, after it has synced to the server? That doesn’t apply for videos though. Go ahead, and download it from the New York Times Reader 2.0 website!

If you liked this article, you might also like these Apps for Windows:

*chirp – Best. Twitter Client. Ever.

Boxee for Windows is the ultimate streaming Media Center

Related posts:

1. Prices of iBook Store New York Times Best Sellers likely to be 9.99$
2. Manage Google Reader in Chrome with Google Reader Notifier
3. Create PDF Files Free From Any Document With Nitro PDF Reader!
4. Apps for Windows – Desktop Apps for Facebook
5. Read eBooks on your PC, iPhone and Android with iBis Reader