Read/Write Web dug up some screenshots (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/times_reader_screenshots.php) of the Times Reader, the software Microsoft and The New York Times have introduced in April 2006 that will soon enable readers to download an electronic version of the newspaper and view it on a portable device. The reader builds on Windows Presentation Foundation, Microsoft's advanced display technology in the forthcoming Windows Vista operating system, and allow to customize the display according to personal preferences, such as font size and content relevance (I know, doesn't that sound innovative?).

In the demo Arik showed me on his Tablet, I saw Times Reader resize and reflow content (including images) to best fit the screen or the reader's tastes. I was impressed with the slickness and smoothness of the re-sizing - it definitely will make reading text on a screen a lot easier. Another interesting thing is that the advertising is automatically re-sized according to the dimensions of the page - which is a great feature for media companies like the Times, because they can now assure advertisers that their ads will be optimally presented in Times Reader at all times.
Visit the NYT First Look blog to sign up (http://firstlook.nytimes.com/index.php?cat=4) for a free Times Reader beta. Since it's so tightly integrated with Microsoft's new technologies, don't expect it to be available on non-MS platforms any time soon.

Related: NYT gets in bed with Microsoft to deliver e-content (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=6393)

[via jkOnTheRun (http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2006/08/times_reader_lo.html)]

Thanks Alexander.
Since it's so tightly integrated with Microsoft's new technologies, don't expect it to be available on non-MS platforms any time soon.
This is true.
Microsoft Times Reader looks slick—but should news-reading be linked with operating systems? teleread blog (http://www.teleread.org/blog/?p=5421) asks same question.

These features [marking, note taking] I want to have as functions in iLiad's viewers in near future. :happy2:

Just a Q: Does this M$ Times Reader include printing?

Well, I think it's a positive sign that the big companies are recognizing that the news reading experience needs to improve beyond basic web browsing. This would be a killer application for an e-ink reader, provided it also allowed for other news sources.

Good idea, bad newspaper choice.