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NewsGator 2.6 is a unique newsreader, in that it integrates with Microsoft Outlook, thereby allowing Outlook users to browse newsfeeds from within the same program that delivers daily e-mail.

This $29 program has a helpful setup wizard that simplifies installation, which took about five minutes in our tests. Once you install NewsGator and open Outlook, NewsGator walks you through creating folders for News And Clippings so that your incoming news won’t get mixed up with e-mail.

Unfortunately, getting started with NewsGator Inbox for Outlook 2.6 requires a bit more tweaking than with standalone newsreaders, such as Awasu, FeedDemon, as well as Web-based services such as Bloglines and Rojo. For instance, the program comes with only two preset subscriptions–both of which deliver NewsGator product news. Fortunately, adding an RSS feed in NewsGator is easy, thanks to the program’s Feed Wizard, which allows you to browse a directory of popular feeds, from technology-oriented blogs to mainstream news content from the BBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other popular sources. You can look up any subject, whether fuel cells or frogs or whatever tickles your fancy, to locate related feeds from mainstream publications as well as blogs and podcasts. NewsGator automatically retrieves newsfeeds every hour, a default setting that you can change easily, to every 15 minutes, for instance, via the NewsGator menu on the Outlook toolbar. And NewsGator’s other settings, such as those for podcasts, afford plenty of customization. NewsGator’s integration with FeedStation enables you to store podcasts in a folder to enable quick downloads to an iPod or a Windows Media Player handheld.