Google Reader beta - old news?

I'm fairly removed from the "real world" in my unemployed cocoon these days, which has me wondering how long the Google Reader has been around. I don't know how I stumbled onto it today, but so far so good.

See, when I left my last position, I had to leave behind my Windows-based RSS reader, RSS Bandit. Being a Mac household, there wasn't anything to really take the place of it. Bloglines is kind of eh because it doesn't have the same level of control over refreshing feeds, and it has the slight lag that is fairly standard with web-based apps. Using Safari or Firefox for RSS feeds didn't make much sense to me because I was used to a much more slick interface with better controls... even Bloglines was better than that. (That may be just user error, but I know what I like.)

Google Reader is somewhere between Bloglines and RSS Bandit. Still a slight lag, but at least there's a refresh button. I would have preferred to keep using RSS Bandit, but they're a small outfit -- I don't blame them for not tangling with the Mac OS.

Update: I'm getting sucked in even farther. Google Reader allows you to email interesting stories or blog them with two clicks. Oh that sticky, sticky Google.