Mac User's Guide To Newsgroups
Finally, a Place For Mac Usenet Users
If you're a Mac user (like all of the NewsgroupDirect team) then you've probably noticed that there just isn't much support in the usenet world for us. That's where our Mac User's Guide to Newsgroups comes in. We're going to compile all of the best usenet resources for Mac users right here.
Mac Newsreaders
Windows users get the nice newsreader apps like Newsleecher, Newsbin, and Newsrover. Until recently there wasn't much at all in the Mac landscape for newsreader apps. A new app called SABnzbd+ is the best Mac app we've seen for using nzb files. For users who like to download and read through headers, Unison by Panic is still the best in the game. We still haven't seen a good Mac newsreader app tha actually incorporates a search server, so if anyone knows of one then let us know.
Choosing A Usenet Provider
Choosing a good provider is easily the most important part of the usenet experience. NewsgroupDirect offers the best support for Mac users in the industry. We use Macs ourselves, so we can actually provide support for you.
At NewsgroupDirect we have a variety of plans to choose from. We are the only provider in the industry to actually offer free usenet access. You can get 1 GB/month from us for absolutely nothing (you don't even have to enter a payment method). We also offer block access accounts. With block accounts you can purchase bandwidth without a committment. Of course, we still offer the industry's best Unlimited access plan as well.
Tips For Using Newsgroups On A Mac
There are a few general things that we recommend when downloading articles from usenet.
1. Choose a separate download folder. It's probably a good idea to keep articles downloaded in a separate folder, something like Downloads/Usenet. That will let you keep things nice and tidy on your disk.
2. Prevent Spotlight Issues. We recommend turning off Spotlight indexing for your usenet download folder. This will help prevent performance problems when you're downloading articles. Since Spotlight is usually quick to start indexing new content, it often will start indexing before you're finished, which can eat CPU cycles.
3. Time Machine Backups. Similar to the Spotlight note above. Whether or not to backup your articles is up to you, but Time Machine will definitely take up CPU resources as it creates backups. Here are some other good folders to exclude from Time Machine.
Did We Miss Anything?
This page is a work in progress, so we've surely left some things out. If you have any questions or know of any content you'd like us to add then just click the Feedback button on the left side of the browser and let us know about it.
