"Gene Kearns" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 13:23:44 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

"JohnH" wrote in message
.. .


Add me to the "Free Agent" list. I've used both Outlook and Forte Free
Agent for
usenet reading. There is no comparison. Here's the URL. Try the free
version,
then pay the small price for the full version. It's great.

http://www.forteinc.com/main/homepage.php


John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD

I tried Forte products about year ago, along with a few other non-MS
programs. If I recall correctly, Agent either won't handle multiple
e-mail
accounts,

This is true, but the next version, out soon, will address that
particular problem. Even then, I'm not sure that I will consider
Agent to be a full featured email client. Try The Bat!, Pocomail, or
Eudora if you want mail.

and the help system takes you to their web site, instead of having
those files resident on the user's machine. Is that still the case?

Nope. I don't ever remember that being the case, though Agent support
is available through the "Help" menu. IMHO, that is a good idea.
Instead of asking you to buy another iteration of the program (like
Micro$oft) Agent puts new and updated programs and information on
their website.... for free. Best way I know of to have the most up to
date program and information for the best price.

That last point is a good one, but still, placing all the help files on the
publisher's web site is a major design sin. The excuse often given is that
the company can update the help files as needed, but that's a crock. The
same help files can also be downloaded to the user's machine to replace the
previous ones. A user should never have to depend on a connection which may
not exist at certain times, for one reason or another.