Usenet is a wonderful service for finding and downloading digital media, giving you speed and reliability you won’t find with other file-sharing options — like, say, BitTorrent. Here’s a quick guide on setting up and getting started with Usenet. More »
Blogger Paul Stamatiou steps through getting acquainted with and then becoming proficient downloading music, movies, and other files with Usenet. After introducing you to the basics of Usenet, Stamatiou delves into more advanced usage, describing how to start Usenet downloads by sending an email to your home computer. BitTorrent is by far the more popular (or at least well known and discussed) method of file sharing right now, but Usenet has been around forever, and its often blazing download speeds and ease of use has kept a lot of users loyal for years. If you’re a die-hard Usenet user, let’s hear what you love about it along with your tips for Usenet newcomers in the comments. How To: Download with Newsgroups [PaulStamatiou]
Wired’s How To wiki takes on Usenet, the old school network of newsgroups rich with download gold but steep in the learning curve department, which most of us internet Johnny-come-lately’s never use. The main advantage of Usenet is speed. P2P networks like BitTorrent and Kazaa depend on peers for download speed and reliability. Usenet, on the other hand, depends largely on the speed of your connection. There’s no slow peer connection to choke your downloads. Combine those advantages with the fact that Usenet files are generally posted by trusted members, and thus less likely to contain malicious code and you begin to see why its popularity is growing.
While Wired covers several Usenet desktop clients, web-based Usenet interfaces like Giganews are available as well (for a monthly subscription fee.) How do you get your Usenet on? Let us know in the comments.
Share Files on Usenet [Wired How To's]
