Google has announced that July 1st,2013 will be the day it officially shuts down its Google Reader and its services. Google reader which has become a primary source for news and other RSS feeds for millions around the globe will cease to exist, come 1st, July 2013. This was on the cards considering the lack of interest shown by Google towards it in the last 2 years and the massive 2 day outage it suffered recently , last year.

The nail in the coffin for Google Reader is July 1, which means users have a little over three months to find a replacement. While that should be plenty of time, there’s no need to wait until the last minute. In fact, it might be a good idea to vet a few alternatives and get acquainted with them ahead of time, before that deadline yanks the RSSes out from under you.

1. Feedly

Great free, minimalistic RSS reader that lives right insider your favorite browser, with mobile apps. BONUS: the site is working on a feedly clone of the Google API reader, and will be able to seamlessly transition Google Reader users over to Feedly.

2. NetVibes

Yes, it has an RSS reader, but it’s also a social media monitoring and analytics solution, so it may not be as clean as you might like. Free for basic personal use.

3. NewsBlur

Free accounts for up to 64 sites, paid for above. Web, iOS, and Android clients. Note that the site is getting absolutely slammed right now as the Google Reader announcement hits, so it may take a while to load for you.

4. RSSOwl

A desktop client for Windows, if that’s your thing. Free.

5. FeedDemon

Another desktop client which claims to be the “most popular RSS reader for Windows.” Also free.

6. Pulse

Beautiful social magazine, but perhaps more work to create and maintain your lists of blogs and sites than Google Reader was. Free, and available for iOS, Android, and the web.

7. Flipboard

The original social magazine made from your Twitter feeds, Facebook friends, Flickr contacts, and, until this summer, your Google Reader feeds. Free, beautiful, but low informational density. iOS and Android only, no web version, and no desktop version.

8. NetNewsWire

Another desktop client, this one for Mac. Also has a iPad and iPhone version, and syncs with Google Reader, so it may be able to get your Google Reader feeds. However, it doesn’t look like it is under active development, based on the app’s website.

9. Liferea

One more desktop client, but for Linux. Free and open source, and includes Google Reader sync while supporting Google Reader labels. Just hit 1.10 release candidate, and sure to get more popular now with Google Reader’s demise.

10. Taptu

If you like cards, you’ll love Taptu. Not only can you add your own Twitter and Facebook feeds, but it also makes RSS discovery and customizing easy and fun. The service uses a DJ metaphor to describe itself, since users can create their playlists of content. It offers its own collection to start with, but you can add your own streams as you see fit or search specific items using keywords. Performance wasn’t the best of the lot, but at least it offers the ability to switch to a non-laggy Web version.