Question on Netscape Browser 8.0.3.3

[Pete]

Hi everyone,

I do not use netscape (but am considering them as an ISP), and I was told by
some people at netscape (both the ISP part and the browser part - 2 separate
entities) that the ISP part only has e-mail (which I know is true), but the
browser has both e-mail and newsgroup access. I downloaded the latest
netscape browser and it has a webmail tab, but after searching all over
(including googling, as well as the netscape help), I can find no
reference to a newsreader of any sort in the current version of netscape, or
to access to a news server.

Am I blind or am I missing something, or did the kids at netscape tell me
wrong. Is there some kind of built in newsreader in the netscape browser,
or does it provide some kind of access to a netscape newsreader that I can't
find. Please enlighten me. Thanks...Pete

 

[Pete]

Hi everyone,

I do not use netscape (but am considering them as an ISP), and I was told
by
some people at netscape (both the ISP part and the browser part - 2
separate
entities) that the ISP part only has e-mail (which I know is true), but
the
browser has both e-mail and newsgroup access. I downloaded the latest
netscape browser and it has a webmail tab, but after searching all over
(including googling, as well as the netscape help), I can find no
reference to a newsreader of any sort in the current version of netscape,
or
to access to a news server.

Am I blind or am I missing something, or did the kids at netscape tell me
wrong. Is there some kind of built in newsreader in the netscape browser,
or does it provide some kind of access to a netscape newsreader that I
can't
find. Please enlighten me. Thanks...Pete

This may not help, but Mozilla Firefox is based on Netscape and is an
excellent browser. The email client is called Thunderbird and is excellent
(but lacks some of the high end features of Outlook).
Good luck.

 

[Pete]

This may not help, but Mozilla Firefox is based on Netscape and is an
excellent browser. The email client is called Thunderbird and is excellent
(but lacks some of the high end features of Outlook).
Good luck.

Pete...what I would like to do is get a new ISP and use OE for both my mail
and newsgroups. If I get netscape as my ISP (for example) could I use
thunderbird just as I am now using my OE with AT&T (which are compatible).
I doubt it. So I guess I could just use netscape for the dial up connection
(which is really the main purpose of an ISP) and collapse the screen and
load thunderbird from the desktop icon. Would this be correct, or something
like this.

Also, does thunderbird have a complete list of newsgroups, similar to what I
now have with AT&T. And what is the connection between Firefox and
Thunderbird (they are two separate downloads). I already downloaded
firefox. If I download Thunderbird will it put itself as a mail tab or
something like that in firefox, or is thunderbird a stand alone program.

Please try to shed some more light on this if you can. I have been used to
IE/OE for the last five years which are compatible with AT&T, but I feel
need to get a new ISP, and I am a little confused on how to do it. Let me
ask a dumb question, could I put thunderbird in OE as a mail server and news
server in OE accounts. Like I said netscape ISP has mail (which I could set
up in OE), but no news.

Thanks for your help...Pete

 

[gls858]

Pete...what I would like to do is get a new ISP and use OE for both my mail
and newsgroups. If I get netscape as my ISP (for example) could I use
thunderbird just as I am now using my OE with AT&T (which are compatible).
I doubt it. So I guess I could just use netscape for the dial up connection
(which is really the main purpose of an ISP) and collapse the screen and
load thunderbird from the desktop icon. Would this be correct, or something
like this.

Also, does thunderbird have a complete list of newsgroups, similar to what I
now have with AT&T. And what is the connection between Firefox and
Thunderbird (they are two separate downloads). I already downloaded
firefox. If I download Thunderbird will it put itself as a mail tab or
something like that in firefox, or is thunderbird a stand alone program.

Please try to shed some more light on this if you can. I have been used to
IE/OE for the last five years which are compatible with AT&T, but I feel
need to get a new ISP, and I am a little confused on how to do it. Let me
ask a dumb question, could I put thunderbird in OE as a mail server and news
server in OE accounts. Like I said netscape ISP has mail (which I could set
up in OE), but no news.

Thanks for your help...Pete

Thunderbird is a newsreader and mail client,like OE. Firefox is a browser
like Internet Explorer. You will be able to open Thunderbird from Firefox.

Your access to newsgroups is usually provided my your ISP. Some have more
groups than others. If you are using AT&T as your ISP then whatever groups
they have will be the ones displayed. Many people subscribe to a news
service other than the one provided by the ISP to get access to more groups
and faster download speeds.

Is this the deal AOL is providing under Netscape's name? If so I've heard
that AOL's news servers aren't the best. At one time the rumor was that
AOL was going to stop providing news access. Maybe someone here can confirm
that.

gls858

 

[Pete]

Thunderbird is a newsreader and mail client,like OE. Firefox is a browser
like Internet Explorer. You will be able to open Thunderbird from Firefox.

Your access to newsgroups is usually provided my your ISP. Some have more
groups than others. If you are using AT&T as your ISP then whatever groups
they have will be the ones displayed. Many people subscribe to a news
service other than the one provided by the ISP to get access to more
groups and faster download speeds.

Is this the deal AOL is providing under Netscape's name? If so I've heard
that AOL's news servers aren't the best. At one time the rumor was that
AOL was going to stop providing news access. Maybe someone here can
confirm
that.

gls858

gls858...thanks for your response. I have downloaded thunderbird as well as
firefox, and it is not immediately obvious to me how to get at a news group
list. Do I have to add a new newsgroup account (or can thunderbird provide
one for me). If I have to provide one, where can I get the info (on the
newsgroup) for all the stuff you have to type in. I am not clear on this.
Right now it (thunderbird) has my mail account listed as AT&T (which will be
gone if I drop them), but it has no newsgroup account. Why did it pick up
the mail account from AT&T but not the newsgroup account from AT&T.

Like I said, I am considering having netscape as my ISP (which I guess is
now owned by AOL), and netscape only has mail, no newsgroups. I would like
one mail client to do both - I guess its just a matter of getting the
account info for the mail and the news accounts and adding it into your
client, but I am a little confused on how to do it, and where to get the
info from (especially for the newsgroup part).

Pertaining to your question about an AOL deal and the AOL news servers, I
know nothing about that, but like I said If I decide to download the
netscape dialer (and use them as my ISP), it only has mail and no news, so
maybe that's what you mean by AOL stopping news access.

Can you tell me exactly how/where I can get the info for a good news server
that is free and will provide me a comprehensive list of newsgroups, and
give me all the stuff I will have to type into the OE or thunderbird "add an
account". Thank you...Pete

 

[gls858]

gls858...thanks for your response. I have downloaded thunderbird as well as
firefox, and it is not immediately obvious to me how to get at a news group
list. Do I have to add a new newsgroup account (or can thunderbird provide
one for me). If I have to provide one, where can I get the info (on the
newsgroup) for all the stuff you have to type in. I am not clear on this.
Right now it (thunderbird) has my mail account listed as AT&T (which will be
gone if I drop them), but it has no newsgroup account. Why did it pick up
the mail account from AT&T but not the newsgroup account from AT&T.

Like I said, I am considering having netscape as my ISP (which I guess is
now owned by AOL), and netscape only has mail, no newsgroups. I would like
one mail client to do both - I guess its just a matter of getting the
account info for the mail and the news accounts and adding it into your
client, but I am a little confused on how to do it, and where to get the
info from (especially for the newsgroup part).

Pertaining to your question about an AOL deal and the AOL news servers, I
know nothing about that, but like I said If I decide to download the
netscape dialer (and use them as my ISP), it only has mail and no news, so
maybe that's what you mean by AOL stopping news access.

Can you tell me exactly how/where I can get the info for a good news server
that is free and will provide me a comprehensive list of newsgroups, and
give me all the stuff I will have to type into the OE or thunderbird "add an
account". Thank you...Pete

Under tools > accounts > click add new account
the account settings come from your ISP. Microsoft has it's own
news server that you can try. Click on add account and enter a
user name and e-mail address. I use a throw away account from
yahoo.com so I don't get spam in my regular mail. Or you can
munge you're e-mail address as (e-mail address removed). I would not
recommend using your real address unless you want lots of spam.
Click next and enter msnews.microsoft.com click finish. You'll
now have an entry in the folder list. Click on that and on the
right at the top you will see manage newsgroup subscriptions.
Click on that and a window pops up and should download a list of
groups that you can select from. The process is the same for your
other news server you just need to get the info from your ISP.
For instance I use Verizon and their server is news.verizon.net
and it requires that I use a password. Look on the website of
your current ISP and search for news, newsgroups or news server
to get the details you need.
Or post you're ISP here and maybe someone is already using them
and can post the details.

gls858

 

[gls858]

Under tools > accounts > click add new account
the account settings come from your ISP. Microsoft has it's own
news server that you can try. Click on add account and enter a
user name and e-mail address. I use a throw away account from yahoo.com
so I don't get spam in my regular mail. Or you can
munge you're e-mail address as (e-mail address removed). I would not
recommend using your real address unless you want lots of spam.
Click next and enter msnews.microsoft.com click finish. You'll now have
an entry in the folder list. Click on that and on the right at the top
you will see manage newsgroup subscriptions.
Click on that and a window pops up and should download a list of
groups that you can select from. The process is the same for your
other news server you just need to get the info from your ISP.
For instance I use Verizon and their server is news.verizon.net
and it requires that I use a password. Look on the website of your
current ISP and search for news, newsgroups or news server
to get the details you need.
Or post you're ISP here and maybe someone is already using them and can
post the details.

gls858

Did a quick check of their site and I don't see any reference to
a news server. A quick call to Customer service seemed to
confirm. You might want to check, sometimes it's just a matter of
getting a different person. Customer Service 866-541-8233.

There are free news servers. Google free news servers and you'll
get more that you can imagine. I think I've seen people using
this before http://www.teranews.com/ can't vouch for any of them.
I use the one my ISP provides.

gls858

 

[RobertVA]

Hi everyone,

I do not use netscape (but am considering them as an ISP), and I was told by
some people at netscape (both the ISP part and the browser part - 2 separate
entities) that the ISP part only has e-mail (which I know is true), but the
browser has both e-mail and newsgroup access. I downloaded the latest
netscape browser and it has a webmail tab, but after searching all over
(including googling, as well as the netscape help), I can find no
reference to a newsreader of any sort in the current version of netscape, or
to access to a news server.

Am I blind or am I missing something, or did the kids at netscape tell me
wrong. Is there some kind of built in newsreader in the netscape browser,
or does it provide some kind of access to a netscape newsreader that I can't
find. Please enlighten me. Thanks...Pete

Netscape ISP doesn't appear to offer a mail server that is compatable
with Outlook, Outlook Express OR Thunderbird. You might not even be able
to configure a new instalation of Netscape's earlier mail client to work
with Netscape's mail server.

If you open a Netscape mail account you might only be able to access it
through a browser interface. To permit customers to access their
accounts from public terminals like those in public libraries and web
cafes, most browser email interfaces are compatable with a wide range of
web browsers.

Netscape's news server only supports a relatively small quantity of
groups related to Mozzila based products like Mozzila Suite (browser,
mail reader etc), Netscape Suite (through the final version 7.2),
Netscape Browser version 8.x and Thunderbird. I have not seen ANY claims
that Netscape ISP operates an echo of the more nermerous standard USENET
groups. I have not seen any indication that Netscape ISP subscribers are
permitted access to AOL or Compuserve branded news servers.

There are expenses involved with operating ANY online server. When a
provider requires a custom client like the MSN or AOL messengers
advertising generates a revenue stream to fund the service. Web
interfaces normally add advertisements displayed adjacent to the message
lists and the messages themselves. Some mail providers even add text
advertisements to incoming and/or outgoing mail messages. Compatability
with POP3/SMTP clients like Outlook, Outlook Express and Thunderbird
don't offer as many oportunities to fund the services through
advertising, placing more of the cost burden on account user fees. Don't
forget that the expense of operating local access numbers has to be
covered by ANY ISP's monthly subscription fees.

Don't forget to research localy owned ISPs. As different areas are
served by different ISPs, you may want to see if there are any local
user groups that can tell you about their experiences with those
providers. Some of those local ISPs may be involved with hosting web
sites for local businesses like radio & TV broadcasters, newspapers or
regional information sites.

 

[Pete]

Did a quick check of their site and I don't see any reference to a news

server. A quick call to Customer service seemed to confirm. You might want
to check, sometimes it's just a matter of getting a different person.
Customer Service 866-541-8233.

There are free news servers. Google free news servers and you'll get more
that you can imagine. I think I've seen people using this before
http://www.teranews.com/ can't vouch for any of them. I use the one my ISP
provides.

gls858

gls858...thanks. I know you have to go to "add accounts", but the key here
is getting the account settings (that you mentioned getting from the ISP in
the message before this one). I just tried the teranews.com (and
thunderbird required no settings other than the "free.teranews.com" - ie no
pop 3 or port 119 stuff - is it easier than OE) and it wouldn't let me get
past the username/password screen when I tried to subscribe. It opened the
account in the display but I couldn't subscribe (which I assume means get
the list of newsgroups). I opened up an account at the teranews website and
it is going to charge my visa account $3.95 for the free service (one time
charge - lol). This ticks me off. Do you think it takes a day or so for it
to take. I got an e-mail back that said my account with teranews was
confirmed.

What ISP do you get your newsgroups from and do you get the mail there to
and how much is it per month, and are you talking dial up...Pete

 

[chicagofan]

<snip>
gls858...thanks for your response. I have downloaded thunderbird as well as
firefox, and it is not immediately obvious to me how to get at a news group
list. Do I have to add a new newsgroup account (or can thunderbird provide
one for me). If I have to provide one, where can I get the info (on the
newsgroup) for all the stuff you have to type in.

If you are leaving AT&T, your *NEW* news server will give you instructions
and the info to enter into Thunderbird for access to their service.

Right now it (thunderbird) has my mail account listed as AT&T (which will be
gone if I drop them), but it has no newsgroup account. Why did it pick up
the mail account from AT&T but not the newsgroup account from AT&T.

Because you have to set up your news service in your new mail client[T'bird]
then subscribe and download the groups you want to read. Look for a menu
of Edit or Preferences in T'bird, for the newsgroup setup locations.

Like I said, I am considering having netscape as my ISP (which I guess is
now owned by AOL), and netscape only has mail, no newsgroups. I would like
one mail client to do both - I guess its just a matter of getting the
account info for the mail and the news accounts and adding it into your
client, but I am a little confused on how to do it, and where to get the
info from (especially for the newsgroup part).

Pertaining to your question about an AOL deal and the AOL news servers, I
know nothing about that, but like I said If I decide to download the
netscape dialer (and use them as my ISP), it only has mail and no news, so
maybe that's what you mean by AOL stopping news access.

AOL just recently did away with USENET newsgroup service for all their
clients, so for you to have newsgroup access with Netscape as an ISP, as you
have found out... it will have to be arranged with an outside source.

Here's a link to a site that might prove useful to you, and I understand it
provides a free news service. Haven't tried it myself. Good luck...
bj

http://news.aioe.org/en/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=22

 

[Pete]

gls858...thanks. I know you have to go to "add accounts", but the key
here is getting the account settings (that you mentioned getting from the
ISP in the message before this one). I just tried the teranews.com (and
thunderbird required no settings other than the "free.teranews.com" - ie
no pop 3 or port 119 stuff - is it easier than OE) and it wouldn't let me
get past the username/password screen when I tried to subscribe. It
opened the account in the display but I couldn't subscribe (which I assume
means get the list of newsgroups). I opened up an account at the teranews
website and it is going to charge my visa account $3.95 for the free
service (one time charge - lol). This ticks me off. Do you think it
takes a day or so for it to take. I got an e-mail back that said my
account with teranews was confirmed.

gls858...I got it working, there was a time delay from opening the account
with teranews. See my comments to Robert...Pete

 

[Pete]

Netscape ISP doesn't appear to offer a mail server that is compatable with
Outlook, Outlook Express OR Thunderbird. You might not even be able to
configure a new instalation of Netscape's earlier mail client to work with
Netscape's mail server.

If you open a Netscape mail account you might only be able to access it
through a browser interface. To permit customers to access their accounts
from public terminals like those in public libraries and web cafes, most
browser email interfaces are compatable with a wide range of web browsers.

Netscape's news server only supports a relatively small quantity of groups
related to Mozzila based products like Mozzila Suite (browser, mail reader
etc), Netscape Suite (through the final version 7.2), Netscape Browser
version 8.x and Thunderbird. I have not seen ANY claims that Netscape ISP
operates an echo of the more nermerous standard USENET groups. I have not
seen any indication that Netscape ISP subscribers are permitted access to
AOL or Compuserve branded news servers.

There are expenses involved with operating ANY online server. When a
provider requires a custom client like the MSN or AOL messengers
advertising generates a revenue stream to fund the service. Web interfaces
normally add advertisements displayed adjacent to the message lists and
the messages themselves. Some mail providers even add text advertisements
to incoming and/or outgoing mail messages. Compatability with POP3/SMTP
clients like Outlook, Outlook Express and Thunderbird don't offer as many
oportunities to fund the services through advertising, placing more of the
cost burden on account user fees. Don't forget that the expense of
operating local access numbers has to be covered by ANY ISP's monthly
subscription fees.

Don't forget to research localy owned ISPs. As different areas are served
by different ISPs, you may want to see if there are any local user groups
that can tell you about their experiences with those providers. Some of
those local ISPs may be involved with hosting web sites for local
businesses like radio & TV broadcasters, newspapers or regional
information sites.

Robert...Thank you for all the info. I got the free teranews working in
thunderbird (I think OE has way many more features - plus thunderbird
doesn't have the ctrl-H feature which is extremely useful for viewing only
the threads "you" have been in).

Let me ask you something. I opened one newsgroup in teranews, but it
(thunderbird) won't open any more. It downloaded the many thousands and
when I go to subscribe to one that is listed it won't come up. Do you have
any idea what is going on. Do you think this is a thunderbird problem or a
teranews problem. Also for the newsgroup that did open, it keeps toggling
the numbers (unread numbers) in the ( ). If you click on it, it will
change the number from 212 unread to 499.

I may have to stay with AT&T and my IE/OE. Thanks...Pete

 

[Pete]

Robert...Thank you for all the info. I got the free teranews working in
thunderbird (I think OE has way many more features - plus thunderbird
doesn't have the ctrl-H feature which is extremely useful for viewing only
the threads "you" have been in).

Let me ask you something. I opened one newsgroup in teranews, but it
(thunderbird) won't open any more. It downloaded the many thousands and
when I go to subscribe to one that is listed it won't come up. Do you
have any idea what is going on. Do you think this is a thunderbird
problem or a teranews problem. Also for the newsgroup that did open, it
keeps toggling the numbers (unread numbers) in the ( ). If you click on
it, it will change the number from 212 unread to 499.

I may have to stay with AT&T and my IE/OE. Thanks...Pete

Robert and everyone else...I want to thank you all. I just noticed by
accident (by looking at the free teranews that I am experimenting with) that
a couple of you (Robert and RRR_news) made some good comments on a message
that I immediately deleted (because of a typo) in AT&T but obviously it
still went to all the other news servers in the world (lol).

Anyway, I found out how to get the newsgroups to come on in thunderbird (I
guess you have to hit ok at the bottom - I kept hitting subscribe and it
doesn't do anything. When I got the first one to come up I did hit
subscribe and didn't hit ok and it came up. After that I couldn't get
anymore to come up. Hitting ok without hitting subscribe will put them up.
So what is the subscribe button for. Oh well.

I also notice that the AT&T newserver show a different total number of
messages for a certain newsgroup than the free teranews server. How can
that be (maybe its got something to do with how far back it saves them -
just a guess)...Pete

 

[RRR_News]

Usually the difference in # of messages in a newsgroup when you first subscribe to a news server. Is based on the retention policy for the messages for that service.

For Example:
1. If AT&T uses a 7 day retention policy, you may see 1000 messages being reported, when you first subscribe to the newsgroup.
2. And if TetraNews only uses 5 days retention policy, you may only see 500 messages when you first subscribe to the newsgroup.

Also many News servers have a policy of deleting binary news messages sooner, than they might for a text-only message. While other news servers will block messages using yEnc format, to save on bandwidth, other might allow the messages to be viewed on their servers.

--

Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>

<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>
Robert and everyone else...I want to thank you all. I just noticed by
accident (by looking at the free teranews that I am experimenting with) that
a couple of you (Robert and RRR_news) made some good comments on a message
that I immediately deleted (because of a typo) in AT&T but obviously it
still went to all the other news servers in the world (lol).

Anyway, I found out how to get the newsgroups to come on in thunderbird (I
guess you have to hit ok at the bottom - I kept hitting subscribe and it
doesn't do anything. When I got the first one to come up I did hit
subscribe and didn't hit ok and it came up. After that I couldn't get
anymore to come up. Hitting ok without hitting subscribe will put them up.
So what is the subscribe button for. Oh well.

I also notice that the AT&T newserver show a different total number of
messages for a certain newsgroup than the free teranews server. How can
that be (maybe its got something to do with how far back it saves them -
just a guess)...Pete

 

[gls858]

snip<

What ISP do you get your newsgroups from and do you get the mail there to
and how much is it per month, and are you talking dial up...Pete

I use Verizon. No it is not dial-up. I have DSL. 29.95/month
1.5 down 384 up. Many people are now getting 3.0/768 for the
same price.

gls858

 

[Pete]

Thank you RRR...Pete


Usually the difference in # of messages in a newsgroup when you first
subscribe to a news server. Is based on the retention policy for the
messages for that service.

For Example:
1. If AT&T uses a 7 day retention policy, you may see 1000 messages being
reported, when you first subscribe to the newsgroup.
2. And if TetraNews only uses 5 days retention policy, you may only see 500
messages when you first subscribe to the newsgroup.

Also many News servers have a policy of deleting binary news messages
sooner, than they might for a text-only message. While other news servers
will block messages using yEnc format, to save on bandwidth, other might
allow the messages to be viewed on their servers.

--

Add MS to your News Reader: news://msnews.microsoft.com
Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>

<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>
Robert and everyone else...I want to thank you all. I just noticed by
accident (by looking at the free teranews that I am experimenting with) that
a couple of you (Robert and RRR_news) made some good comments on a message
that I immediately deleted (because of a typo) in AT&T but obviously it
still went to all the other news servers in the world (lol).

Anyway, I found out how to get the newsgroups to come on in thunderbird (I
guess you have to hit ok at the bottom - I kept hitting subscribe and it
doesn't do anything. When I got the first one to come up I did hit
subscribe and didn't hit ok and it came up. After that I couldn't get
anymore to come up. Hitting ok without hitting subscribe will put them up.
So what is the subscribe button for. Oh well.

I also notice that the AT&T newserver show a different total number of
messages for a certain newsgroup than the free teranews server. How can
that be (maybe its got something to do with how far back it saves them -
just a guess)...Pete

 

[Manny Borges]

It doesn't matter who your ISP is, you can use OE is you want to.

--
Manny Borges
MCSE NT4-2003 (+ Security)
MCT, Certified Cheese Master

The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.
-- Marty Feldman