I am a routine lurker at the wreck and have used aol for several years. Now they are doing away with newsgroups and I was wondering if anyone knew of a "simple" reader that I could use to continue enjoying the group. Thanks in advance.
Sam
Mozilla Thunderbird or Forte Agent are good. I like Thunderbird.
You can also access rec.woodworking through the web at groups.google.com
Steve
---------------- Sure. Use your browser with Google Groups:
snipped-for-privacy@aol.comnospam (Sambo145) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m23.aol.com:
If you just want to lurk, Google is simple. If you want to post, then don't try to use Google. For some historical reasons, many of us filter Google-sourced posts. You'll only be seen by a portion of the wReck populace.
I use xNews as a reader. It's not perfect, but the threading is reasonable, the filtering is as good as I need, binaries are handled pretty well and the price is, well, free.
Check the recent past (archives) for free or reasonable newsfeed(s) to suit your requirements.
Patriarch
Mozilla is a good choice because it gives you mail,news,web,chat and is free and stable.
The answer depends on what O/S you're using.
There are 'dedicated' newsreader programs (that's *all* they do), and there are 'multifunction' programs that will read news as one of their capabilities.
a partial list:
multifunction programs, available on multiple platforms: Netscape Mozilla "Thunderbird", also from Mozilla,org Outlook/Outlook Express (*NOT* recommended, tho some people like it)
For UNIX, and look-alikes, like the LINUX derivatives:
trn slrn xrn knode
For MacOS:
Thoth
For MS-Windows:
Free Agent (from Forte Systems) Forte Agent (a 'pay for' upgraded version of free agent) MicroPLanet Gravity
For more than you could possibly want to know, do a google search on "newsreader software"
I use Outlook Express. It's a piece of crap.
It was already on my machine and I've been too lazy/busy to install anything better. I'm watching for a concensus here...
- Owen -
agent is really good. they have a free version. also mozilla thunderbird will do though I have never tried it with newsgroups.
Mozilla Firefox for a browser. Mozilla Thunderbird for e=mail and a news reader. Lots more protection than MS software and more stable. Costs nothing! Installs easily. Keep your outlook (you have to use it for other stuff) and MS worked it out so that Firefox couldn't be used for MS updates.
If you want a simple newsreader with limited usefulness but simple to just read text Outlook express is it. A lot of people on the newsgroups just hate it (limited capabilities)but the others newsreaders can sometimes feel to complex for people who are used to the handholding that AOL gives.I use Xnews,and free agent and outlook express( different news reader for different groups type)The best advice it to try some and see which one feels best to you.
len
snipped-for-privacy@aol.comnospam (Sambo145) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m23.aol.com:
Xnews. Easy to use. Good filtering.
On their home page you will find the link for Thunderbird - it makes a great newsreader.
Sambo145 wrote:
================================= Not sure if AOL is truely in fact going to cut off newsgroups...seems to me I read it was a false alert....
But even my wife who does have an AOL account uses Forte Free Agent as her news reader... since it handles AOL's newsgroups a heck of a lot better then AOL own software...
That said... I use Firfox for web browsing...its free and much better then the browser Bill Gates wants us all to use...... Eudora (paid edition) for e-mail ...just to good for someone wh gets 100's of e-mails daily some personal some from mailing lists ...and I have been using Free Agent (the free version of Agent) to read newsgroups... for years and honestly I like it...
I may have to subscribe to a news service shortly however as my wonderful Cable company no longer carries the Chevelle newsgroup which is a major problem since I am restoring one... Xnews is the service that I was recomemnded to pay for...understand it is cheap but complete...
Bob Griffiths..
=================== Sorry really screwed up....I have been told to subscribe to Tera News.. not Xnews which is a reader not a service... sorry I should have been awake by now...
Bob Griffiths
Free Agent
work.
I spent about an hour playing with it last night and I couldn't even get the 'junk' button ungrayed, never mind setting up the filters.
The documentation on its newsreader functions is sparse and unhelpful as well.
--RC (who currently uses mozilla for mail and Free Agent as a newsreader)
"Sometimes history doesn't repeat itself. It just yells 'can't you remember anything I've told you?' and lets fly with a club. -- John W. Cambell Jr.
Get Agent. There's a pay version and a free version.
Both are available at
I played with Thunderbird for a while too and decided it was not worth the effort. It does have some nice features that OE does not have, but for me they just didn't outweigh some of the other peculiarities of it. I'm past the point where diddling with software packages like this is fun, so I lost interest after a short time. I'm still using Firefox, but probably only for a short time. It's much slower than IE, and although I can't really prove it, it seems to have a memory leak of some major proportions. I've checked for patches or updates, but there are none on the Mozilla site. I'll probably just go back to IE and its shortcomings.
Hi! My name is Patrick and I use Outlook Express!
All I do is read and post. I like the fact that it does this very well. I like the message retrieval and the ability to displace pictures. I don't need and don't use any other features...
Why use 2 products when 1 will do - Netscape 7.2? One app to install, does email and newsgroups from the same screen and is Mozilla internally, and is also free.
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