On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 12:34:51 -0500, Gene Kearns
wrote:


Agent has just released Version 2.0 Build 640 to the public. There
are significant improvements in this version, but it does not, yet,
incorporate many of the most desired (and promised) features. One of
the most significant features is enhanced message sorting and
threading. Personally, I find these changes quite useful in the
ongoing battle against -OT- in rec.boats.

General Information:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php

Information specific to 2.0...2.x:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/roadmap.php

Thanks Gene. I have version 1.91 and now may upgrade to 1.93. Don't
know if I want to spend the bucks for 2.0, 'cause I've been very
pleased with 1.91.

Haven't had any trouble filtering those whom I want to filter. Usually
just the author's name works quite well.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

What's the advantage to an aftermarket newsreader? A perfectly good one
came free with my Windows.

Is there really an advantage, or is it just rage against the machine?

-W

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
news

Agent has just released Version 2.0 Build 640 to the public. There
are significant improvements in this version, but it does not, yet,
incorporate many of the most desired (and promised) features. One of
the most significant features is enhanced message sorting and
threading. Personally, I find these changes quite useful in the
ongoing battle against -OT- in rec.boats.

General Information:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php

Information specific to 2.0...2.x:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/roadmap.php

--



Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC.

http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/cavern/
Homepage
http://www.southharbourvillage.com/directions.asp Where
Southport,NC is located.
http://www.southharbourvillage.com/autoupdater.htm Real Time Pictures
at My Marina
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats Rec.boats
at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 18:21:01 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

What's the advantage to an aftermarket newsreader? A perfectly good one
came free with my Windows.

Is there really an advantage, or is it just rage against the machine?

I've been using Agent since before v. 1.93--about ten years.

It's the best $29 I've spent.

You can go to www.forteinc.com and download a fully functional version of the
brand new (YAY!) Agent 2.0. You'll be able to test it for 30 days for free.

The features I have found most useful in Agent (just bought 2.0 but haven't yet
evaluated it) are these:

* Very powerful filtering capabilities, using RegExp
* Extreme ease of use
* Speed
* Decodes binary attachments seamlessly
* Has a functional email client (although I still use Eudora for email)
* Easily configured separate folders

Joe Parsons


-W

"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
news

Agent has just released Version 2.0 Build 640 to the public. There
are significant improvements in this version, but it does not, yet,
incorporate many of the most desired (and promised) features. One of
the most significant features is enhanced message sorting and
threading. Personally, I find these changes quite useful in the
ongoing battle against -OT- in rec.boats.

General Information:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php

Information specific to 2.0...2.x:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/roadmap.php

--



Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Southport, NC.

http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/cavern/
Homepage
http://www.southharbourvillage.com/directions.asp Where
Southport,NC is located.
http://www.southharbourvillage.com/autoupdater.htm Real Time Pictures
at My Marina
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats Rec.boats
at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 12:34:51 -0500, Gene Kearns wrote:


Agent has just released Version 2.0 Build 640 to the public.

Woo hoo!

Thanks for the heads up!

Joe Parsons

There
are significant improvements in this version, but it does not, yet,
incorporate many of the most desired (and promised) features. One of
the most significant features is enhanced message sorting and
threading. Personally, I find these changes quite useful in the
ongoing battle against -OT- in rec.boats.

General Information:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/index.php

Information specific to 2.0...2.x:
http://www.forteinc.com/agent/roadmap.php

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 18:21:01 GMT, "Clams Canino"
wrote:

What's the advantage to an aftermarket newsreader? A perfectly good one
came free with my Windows.

Is there really an advantage, or is it just rage against the machine?

Are you talking about OE (Outlook Express)? The answer is yes - there
are some distinct advantages.

Advanced filtering and weighting, multiserver support (which OE does
support, but not well), search functions, OE sucks at handling and
decoding multi-part binaries (I spend time on the marine and landscape
photography lists for example or mp3s that I've been collecting for
years) and yEnc which is a superior compression algorithym, multiple
ids (for different groups), IP masking (which OE doesn't do),
automatic crosspost checks, unlimited configurability, customize the
toolbars - well, just a ton of stuff that OE can't, won't and will not
do. OE also tracks your Usenet usage which, depending on your
proclivities, you might not want tracked. ;)

Agent is probably the oldest of the bunch and the most stable, but
Agent hasn't really followed up on some promises they made after
releasing 1.91. I use Agent on the home computers because everyone
here is used to it.

Xnews is another constantly evolving free newsreader, but you really
have to be a geek to use it properly or have a geek close by to help
translate some of the techno-speak. Once you get a handle on the
terminology used, Xnews rocks - it's really unbelievable what you can
do with it. I don't use Xnews because I'm not up for learning what is
essentially a new "language" (if you will), but two of the kids use it
and really make it sing.

Opera is a browser and email/news reader that is very nice if you want
to experiment with a non-corporate (aol/microsoft) software that has a
lot of followers out there in Windoze land. Opera is relatively
stable and has some great features that I like a lot. I have Opera on
the computer in the shop in fact.

Hope that helps.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------

"To the fisherman born there is nothing
so provoking of curiosity as a fishing rod
in a case."

Roland Pertwee, "The River God" (1928)

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 19:34:38 -0500, Gene Kearns
wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 19:19:45 GMT, Joe Parsons
wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 12:34:51 -0500, Gene Kearns wrote:


Agent has just released Version 2.0 Build 640 to the public.

Woo hoo!

Thanks for the heads up!


Stay tuned guys and I'll let you in on as much as I legally can... as
soon as I can...... but 2.1 should be the start of the great things to
come..... Mark promises it in Q2.... we'll see....

Great! And I hear that one good key will work in any downloaded
version! Yippee......

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

Gene Kearns wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 20:04:16 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:


Well, it is a little less of a mess than it used to be, but I have yet
to find any easy way to add more than one news server.

You can't. That is promised out in 2.1.... or Q2....


Or more than one email address or server, although I haven't plumbed
those depths much. But it is a step up for FORTE.

--
Email sent to is never read.

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 19:57:39 -0500, Gene Kearns
wrote:

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 19:43:12 -0500, John H
wrote:

Great! And I hear that one good key will work in any downloaded
version! Yippee......


Yep, they don't ask for more money until they do something
significant.... in terms of enhancements. Bug fixes are free and
beta testers aren't regular purchasers, unlike Micro$oft.

I may try downloading and installing 1.93, just to see what
improvements exist, but I'll keep the 1.91.exe around just in case I
don't like it.

I used to use LView (a picture editor) and made the mistake of
downloading a newer version. It stunk. Luckily I had put the
downloaded 'exe' on a floppy. Now I use Irfanview (also free), a great
picture editor/viewer.

I start with Free Agent when there wasn't a version to buy. I paid the
bucks for the 1.91, and love it. I've watched a friend try to use his
Outlook as a news reader. What a mess.

Thanks for the info about the updates. I appreciate it and will give
1.93 a shot.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 19:19:04 GMT, Joe Parsons
wrote:

I've been using Agent since before v. 1.93--about ten years.

It's the best $29 I've spent.

================================================== =

I'll second that. I've tried most of the alternatives at one time or
another and never liked any of them as well.

Does Agent permit multiple email accounts? I'd download and test it, but
that's always risky business in the Windows environment. "DLL Hell", as it's
known to veterans.