The next generation Times Reader desktop application, built by NY Times and Microsoft,\nhas just gone live. At the end\nof August Read/WriteWeb published exclusive\npre-launch screenshots of Times Reader, but now you can download the app and see for\nyourself. Note that it requires a Windows XP machine and the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0.\nOnce downloaded and installed, you will need to login to the application using your NY\nTimes website username and password.

The technology behind Times Reader

Times Reader is built on WPF\n(Windows Presentation Foundation), which is Microsoft's advanced UI technology for\napplications. To check out the WPF features in Times Reader, try some of these\nthings:

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• Resize the window or change the font size - WPF automatically reflows the content and\nadjusts the number of columns.
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• Browse around the content itself - notice that the ads are themselves WPF (i.e.\nreflowable).
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• If you’re running on Windows Vista RC1, try a search from the Windows search\nbar – you’ll see NY Times news articles appear as files in the search.
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• Try the search link (just under the back/forward arrows). The articles are arranged\nin a heat map tile panel view, with the size denoting the importance of the article. This\nseems to be a work in progress, as some searches don't have many results at this point\n(e.g. a search for \"microsoft\").
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• Click the Topic Explorer (right-click > Topics, select a topic, then click the\n\"Topic Explorer\" radio button in the search results) and see an interconnected web of\nrelated articles.
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If you're interested in the technology behind Times Reader, there are more details on\nthis Tech.Ed WPF demo page. It\nincludes a screencast demonstrating the \nTablet PC (Inking) capabilities on the Windows Presentation Foundation platform\n(screencast also on\nYouTube).

Free or premium?

It's unclear at this point whether Times Reader will be free to use, or will require a\nsubscription. I think the Reader itself is free and premium content requires\nsubscription, just as it is with the website. Currently the content in Times Reader seems\nto mirror what NY Times offers on its website - i.e. some content is marked with TimesSelect, their\npremium content subscription service.

Screenshots

Here are some more screenshots of Times Reader in action, based on my tests:

\nHighlight and right-click for options

\nAdding notes - on a Tablet you can do this via 'inking'

\nSearch and its heat map tile panel view

\nTopic Explorer

\nExploring topics within a single article