Reading these newsgroups

  • Thread starter Thread starter Andrew
  • Start date Start date
A

Andrew

What do people use to read these newsgroups? I have been
using my web browser (IE) and pointing it
to "http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups/". The
experience doing this has been pretty much awful. Is
there something better? I do not want to use Outlook -- I
do not trust it to refrain from opening executables.

If anyone is interested, some of the problems with using
IE with the MSDN newsgroups are as follows. The display
doesn't respect font sizes, so things overwrite each other
and don't fit. I have to scroll around constantly. 75%
of the screen is taken up by stuff other than the post I'm
reading, so even on a 1600x1200 display I have to scroll
even to read short messages. THe width of the new-post
box is so small that it can't handle more than about 40
characters in width. This box can't be resized. The
search function is constantly broken (right now it says
something like "System error! Contact system
administator!" whenever I try to search for anything. I
think it got confused after I switched newsgroups while I
was waiting for it to finish a search.
 
Hi Andrew

The messages in these newsgroups are essentially the same as e-mails, so you
are right that IE is not the best tool for viewing them.

I use Outlook Express, as do many other people in these groups (I believe)
and have never had a problem with it opening attachments without my say-so.

I am also running ZoneAlarm and NAV, which occasionally remove what are
perceived to be 'unsafe' attachments, but that does not present a problem,
since it is not advisable to post attachments (at least not in the first
instance).

HTH

Charles
 
Charles Law said:
I use Outlook Express, as do many other people in these groups (I believe)
and have never had a problem with it opening attachments without my say-so.
Click to expand...

Note, however, that there are various reasons *not* to use OE as a
newsreader:

1) The way it positions the cursor encourages top-posting
2) Its sig-separator is broken
3) Without care, you end up posting code like this:

using System;


class Test

{

static void Main()

{

Console.WriteLine ("Isn't this horrible?");

}

}



instead of:

using System;

class Test
{
static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine ("Ah, much better...");
}
}
 
I know what you mean about the formatting of code. I had always put that
down to the fact that I am pasting code from an IDE into a plain text
editor, but it is nevertheless annoying to have to go through it and
reformat it. I would have thought that nowadays people would be using RTF or
HTML for postings, but I assume there is a reason why not.

Charles
 
Charles Law said:
I know what you mean about the formatting of code. I had always put that
down to the fact that I am pasting code from an IDE into a plain text
editor
Click to expand...

Nope - it's due to OE interpreting things incorrectly. The only trouble
I ever have when I post code is if I've got lines over 72 characters,
in which case I reformat them.
but it is nevertheless annoying to have to go through it and
reformat it. I would have thought that nowadays people would be using RTF or
HTML for postings, but I assume there is a reason why not.
Click to expand...

There certainly is - HTML is unsuitable in various ways for news posts.
News could certainly be redesigned in a way which would make it more
suitable, but it's not currently a good idea, IMO. (If news were being
redesigned, however, there are many things of higher priority, and it's
quite possible that straight HTML posts wouldn't be the way to go
either.)
 
Which News viewer do you use?

José
Jon Skeet said:
say-so.

Note, however, that there are various reasons *not* to use OE as a
newsreader:

1) The way it positions the cursor encourages top-posting
2) Its sig-separator is broken
3) Without care, you end up posting code like this:

using System;


class Test

{

static void Main()

{

Console.WriteLine ("Isn't this horrible?");

}

}



instead of:

using System;

class Test
{
static void Main()
{
Console.WriteLine ("Ah, much better...");
}
}
Click to expand...
 
José Joye said:
Which News viewer do you use?
Click to expand...

Gravity - it's now free, but I originally paid for it. Lovely bit of
software.

(Do a Google search for "Tom's Gravity Pages" to download it.)
 
Jon Skeet said:
Nope - it's due to OE interpreting things incorrectly. The only trouble
I ever have when I post code is if I've got lines over 72 characters,
in which case I reformat them.
Click to expand...

In OE options it is possible to specify when to wrap lines - e.g. my
installation uses 80 characters limit. Also, when replying it might use
indenting with preceding characters - see also options. So, take care!

HTH
Alex
 
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