Best windows Usenet (yes, Usenet) reader?

[sdsumike619]

I have Thunderbird, but IMO, it really is quite slow. I subscribed to Giganews as I need to research something that goes way back. Is there anything better than Thunderbird available?

[KBeee]

I used to use FreeAgent

[jman98]

I use NewsBin, but it's not free. They have a custom version designed specifically for Giganews, who in my not so humble opinion is the best, bar none, of the Usenet providers, so you did well to go with them. NewsBin acts intelligently to aggregate parts of posts together so if you have a 100 part post, you only see one entry for the whole thing in their reader.

[aedipuss]

forte agent

[johns0]

Newbin pro.

[Ridder]

for free: AltBinz:

http://www.altbinz.net/

[Brad]

I think the question is about reading text posts, not binaries..? What about Google Groups?

[jman98]

I think the question is about reading text posts, not binaries..? What about Google Groups?

Well, it's certainly possible to do that with NewsBin and I do so from time to time, but if that is truly all the OP wants to do, a free solution would probably make the best sense. I don't know how long Google Groups retains text posts, so subscribing to Giganews could make sense even if just for that as they may offer the kind of retention the OP needs.

[jagabo]

If you're still running XP Pro (like your profile says) you can use Outlook Express. I use Forte Agent.

[Brad]

I don't know how long Google Groups retains text posts, so subscribing to Giganews could make sense even if just for that as they may offer the kind of retention the OP needs.

They acquired Deja News in 2001 and have messages dating back to 1981: http://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html

[mail2tom]

If you have a subscription to Giganews why not use their own usenet browser "Mimo?"

[MJPollard]

Forte Agent. Its interface is a bit dated and its HTML support is half-assed at best (or was, last time I used it), but it definitely gets the job done and has lots of features. It was my workhorse app for email and Usenet before I switched to Thunderbird for email (and dropped Usenet altogether).

[sdsumike619]

Thank you for all the suggestions. Agent looks pretty good. Google Groups is good too, except things get deleted from there sometimes. I'm using Agent to download message bodies going back to 2003 for this particular group, so far so good!