In order to read and participate in newsgroup discussions you will need to be able to access the Usenet. That means using a Newsreader. A newsreader is an application which allows you to access Usenet newsgroups, which are transmitted through the internet via NNTP. (You may wish to note that web pages are transmitted via HTTP.) The two major browsers available today each has a newsreader option available, depending on which version of the browser you have, but there are other options as well.
The Stand-Alone Newsreader:
Even if your browser does have a newreader application built-in, you may choose to use a separate newsreader to access the Usenet. The main reason for this is that the newsreader inegrated into your browser is usually not very feature rich and you may not want to load up your memory hog of a browser just to read newsgroups or post a message. Of the stand-alone newsreader applications out there, I have found that MT-NewWatcher is the best available.
MT-NewsWatcher is a multithreaded newsreader. That means it can perform more than one task at a time. This is a real time-saver when you are online, since you are able to read an article which the app is downloading messages or decoding binaries in the background. MT-NW is fast, relatively bug-free, and best of all free. It is also, unlike some other newsreaders out there, still being developed and will hopefully see even more improvements in the future.
You can download MT-NW from the MT-NewsWatcher Homepage. The download is a FAT binary, so it will run on both PPC and 68K MacOS systems.
Web-Based Newsreading:
Web-based newsreading is a relatively new method of accessing newsgroups, but it is one which is gaining popularity. The main advantage of this method is that you do not need any special software at all and it is compatible with browsers that don't have built-in newsreaders as well. It also gives you access to the newsgroups you want to read from any computer with a browser. That means you can access the Usenet from almost anywhere.
Of the web sites offering newsgroup access, Deja News, Inc. is the leader in this new field. Their site not only allows you to access current newsgroups and articles through the customizable "My Deja News" interface, but they also archive old articles so you can search thier archives for information or articles you may have missed. (Most ISPs clear out their news servers on a regular basis, so you may often miss articles unless you read a newsgroup everyday.) The powerful combination of newsreader and Usenet archive may make Deja News the only newsreader you'll ever need.
One other difference you will notice when comparing Deja News with other newsreading options is that "My Deja News" has a spam filter which keeps out most of the junk posts which tend to clog many newsgroups.
If you plan to make a lot of use of Usenet newsgroups you will find that using a combination of these newsreading options will best suit your needs.
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