Usenet, newsreaders, etc.

[Ana]

Hello,
This is my first-ever post to a usenet. I'm more comfortable chatting
with people on MSN, so I don't know much about usenet. I've used
discussion boards in my courses in university; is usenet a similar
thing? And what's this about installing newsreaders? I didn't install
anything but I can still read posts. I signed up with Google Groups,
is that a newsreader?

Thanks very much for clarifying.
Ana

[Kathy Morgan]

Post by Ana
his is my first-ever post to a usenet. I'm more comfortable chatting
with people on MSN, so I don't know much about usenet. I've used
discussion boards in my courses in university; is usenet a similar
thing?

Are you referring to web-based discussion boards? If so, usenet is much
different (and I think better). The protocol for transporting messages
and user interface is quite a lot different.

Post by Ana
And what's this about installing newsreaders? I didn't install
anything but I can still read posts. I signed up with Google Groups,
is that a newsreader?

Not exactly. Google has an archive of Usenet messages which you access
with your web browser. Most of us consider it a rather unsatisfactory
way to read groups--I only go there when I'm forced to or for research
purposes.

A newsreader is a small program that you install on your computer and
use to access the messages on your news server. Most ISP's do provide a
news server for use by their customers; you would need to check with
your ISP support system or on their website to get information about the
name of the server and any authentication that may be needed.

The most commonly used (but worst quality) newsreader for Windows is
Outlook Express (OE), which comes free with Windows. There are other,
better, free newsreaders (such as Xnews or Free Agent) or if you find
that you enjoy reading news, you may even want to pay for a newsreader
such as Agent with the qualities you desire. If you're using a Mac,
some of the popular readers are MT-NewsWatcher, YA-NewsWatcher,
Entourage, MacSOUP and HogWasher.

You can find links to download and information about the programs at
<http://www.newsreaders.com> and at the GNKSA (Good Net Keeping Seal of
Approval) site in my .sig. If you decide to use OE, *please* fix it by
patching it with OE Quotefix (link in my .sig)--that cures some of OE's
worst problems.