What are newsgroups?
Newsgroups are one of the oldest methods of online group communication, actually
predating the Internet as we know it today. They are still very widely used, and
many companies large and small have their own news servers dedicated to supporting
their products. Microsoft have their news server available at
msnews.microsoft.com, and many others are available as well.
In addition to these privately-run news servers, there is also a worldwide network
of servers carrying a huge range of public newsgroups, collectively known as Usenet.
These newsgroups cover just about every topic imaginable, from hobbies, sport, science
and technology and general chat to ones covering the running of Usenet itself. There
are also many newsgroups dedicated to sharing binary files.
How do I access newsgroups?
To access a newsgroup, you need a newsreader program and access to a news server.
Windows PCs come pre-installed with Outlook Express, which is a newsreader in addition
to being an e-mail program, and many other newsreader programs are available as
well.
When you connect to a news server, your newsreader will start off by downloading
a list of available newsgroups. You can then select which of these you are interested
in, and "subscribe" to them. The newsgroups you select will then be displayed as
a list of folders, and clicking on one of those folders will show a list of the
messages that have been posted to that newsgroup.
Newsgroup support in MPNews
MPNews fully supports the protocol that describes how newsgroups work, known as
NNTP. This means that each forum you create within MPNews can be read and posted
to from standard newsreader programs such as Outlook Express.
By providing newsreader access to your forums, you can normally keep up-to-date
with the latest messages and communicate with other people must faster and more
effectively than when using a standard web forum. Although web forums are more
familiar to many non-technical users, newsgroups offer a speed and simplicity
that appeals to many.