Usenet Newsgroups Freeware

Contrary to what some people think, the Web is not all there is to the Internet. Take the Usenet newsgroups, for example. There are many thousands of newsgroups in cyberspace, which serve as bulletin boards on which anyone can post content. With so many newsgroups in existence, there is one for any interest that you can imagine, from antique tractors to sushi to ancient Babylonian culture.
The newsgroups are a wonderful source of information if you need quick help on a certain topic (such as fixing an annoying computer glitch or finding help on getting a software program to run). Or if you simply want to discuss the issues of the day, there are plenty of lively debates raging in newsgroups at all hours.
The newsgroups contain far more than just text messages, though. You can find everything there from images and photos to sound files to multimedia files and software programs.
Below, we offer the Web's best free programs for getting the most out of the Usenet newsgroups. Some are good, all-around general newsgroup programs that can handle every task you can imagine. Others are more specialized and excel in one certain aspect of the newsgroups (such as automatically retrieving photos).

• ASP1-A3 
  The next time you're downloading pictures of pastoral landscape scenes from your favorite Usenet newsgroup, you'll appreciate this cool free utility. ASP1-A3 automatically downloads images for you while filtering out spam. The freeware version is supported by ads. (For Windows).

• NewsXpress 
  Here's an excellent, highly configurable free newsgroup reader for Windows. Offers many advanced features, such as built-in uuencode and uudecode. You can also view binary (graphics) files as they download. NewsXpress also lets you send E-mail via SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and much more. (For Windows).

• Free Agent 
  Free Agent is simply put, one of the Web's must-have freeware programs. It's a Usenet newsgroup reader that features an easy-to-use interface with lots of icons and pull-down menus. Free Agent provides multipane viewing, flexible article purging options, database compacting, carbon copying for E-mail and article posting, editing of all fields, and canceling of posts. For full E-mail support and more advanced features, you can upgrade to Agent, a full-featured commercial version. (For Windows). Note: Agent and Free Agent are combined in a single download---Free Agent is not available as a separate file.

• WinVN Newsreader 
  A solid freeware program, WinVN (Windows Visual Newsreader) has been around for a while and is constantly improving. Like other news readers, it can be used to select, view, write, sort and print Usenet News articles, but it offers a more visual approach than other similar programs. With WinVN, you can easily navigate between newsgroups and articles via a point-and-click interface. (For Windows). English and Japanese versions are available.