Hi all - I've had to get a new computer and was having issues with Thunderbird as my email program. So I'm currently using the web-based email program from my ISP. However, this means I no longer have a newsreader included.
I got a renewal notice from news.individual.net but was going to cancel it as I've been accessing this through Google Groups instead. I hate to pay for a newsreader service if I'm not really using it.
Can anyone advise of a good simple newsreader program they prefer or another web-site you use?
Hi Melissa, I use news.eternal-september.org (formerly known as motzarella.org) as my news server as well. I love it, know many, many others that use it and love it too. Actually, I've never really heard one complaint about it ever. Go to their website, sign up for free (versus renewing with news.individual.net), and then you can use basic Microsoft Outlook Express (not the Outlook that is part of the MS Office suite) as your newsreader (also free and probably included on your new computer if it's a PC). Others I know use Agent as their newsreader for a small fee. They used to have a free version, not sure if they still do or not. I'm happy using Outlook Express, and I'm a huge Usenet reader participant.
Windows 7 doesn't include Outlook Express. I downloaded free Windows Live Mail and use that as my newsreader.
I've been using Eternal-September ever since Comcast stopped supporting newsgroups about a year ago and other then an occasional time when they are down for maintenance, it's worked beautifully.
SO WHY DID Micro-brain drop OE and foist Windows Live-ry Stable upon the multitude??? Simple - advertising space can be sold on Windows Live-ry Stable which can be done with OE. Literally hundreds of thousands of news group members stopped posting messages after Windows Vista and Windows 7 came out and I think the daily dozen or two posts showing up on RCTN proves my point.
I'm using news.eternal-september.org also! Works great with no problems and no bloody advertisements. For ya'll using Windows 7 you can still go to the Outlook Express downloads and get Outlook Express. Works with IE 6, 7, 8 and I'm told that it will also work with IE 9 whenever it comes out. The rules one can set up for mail and news in OE out performs Windows Live
100 to 1, plus there are no infernal advertisements with geek flashy banners whacking your eyeballs. I tried Windows Live for a few hours then tossed it - what a joke!
OE is no longer supported by Micro-brain but who cares you can still download it and it still woiks!!
Fred
formatting link
nothing changes, nothing changes.Don't back stitch to email, just stitchit.
Same here, Fred. I tried Windows Live when I upgraded from Windoze XP to Windoze 7 but soon reverted to Thunderbird with newsgroup feeds from my ISP (btinternet).
No, they dropped Free Agent around the time they developed APN which is their own server. I think they probably foresaw the way ISPs were going to dump usenet and realized some of us still want to use it.
I have used news.individual, also datemas and motzarella in turn but am happy now with this. The man behind eternal september is really quite the individual, but I suspect you know that !
Well Bruce, when Windows Live landed here news group usage dropped from over
90,000 to less than 1000 and then all but one newsgroup feeders disappeared. The only one left is loaded with those bloody flashing banners and I refuse to use it either, news.eternal-september.org works just fine for me so I never tried Thunderbird.
Fred
formatting link
nothing changes, nothing changes.Don't back stitch to email, just stitchit.
I'm talking about Windows Live Mail also. Loaded with ads. flashing banners and no way can one set a mail or news rule that will high light a message from Lucille or anyone else for that matter in a color so that it stands out from the rest of the messages.
Fred
formatting link
nothing changes, nothing changes.Don't back stitch to email, just stitchit.
I agree with Lucille. I've been using Windows Live Mail for the past 3 months for both mail and newsgroups. There are no ads or flashing banners. It hasn't changed the way I view newsgroups from when I used Outlook Express.
Lets get a bit more specific - she's looking for a *program* (Mozilla's Tunderbird, or Microsoft's no-longer-supported Windows Mail) to use on her computer, not a server (i.e. eternal-september, news.individual.net, etc) that hosts usenet newsgroups.
I don't want to add to any who likes/hates microsoft, etc. However, I use Eternal-september as my usenet link because verizon dropped their newsservice access. But....I have it set as the server option through Entourage which is the mail program I use. Works like a charm. It is part of the Office Suite for Macs. So, if Melissa has a mail program on her computer - she ought to be able to use it. That said, eternal-september is free, and if she hasn't resubscribed to her news.individual.net, then she could use eternal-september. Melissa might be able to use eternal-september thru her web-based email by linking in the news server locations. Or see what other e-mail type programs she has available. Since I have a Mac, I use either the Apple Mail program or Entourage.
Looking at the eternal-september site - I'm not sure how I'd use it as a reader, but here is a link from the eternal-september Q&A section, which addresses the same problem which Melissa has brought up (i.e. Problems with newsreader). This page has links to several newsreader programs.
Definitely no complaints! I use freenews.netfront.net as my backup (free) newsserver if/when eternal september is hiccuping. If those two fail me, I swallow my pride and go through google groups.
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