OSXnews - 2.08

Does nothing but generate false authentication errors with same server and authentication information with which every other newsreader I've ever tried work.

Existing usenet account, username and password. False authentication errors in this app.

I really like Thoth as a newsreader, but it is not a Universal Binary (and future development is in doubt), so I thought I'd try this one.

I downloaded the group list and subscribed to one group. I double-clicked on the subscribed group (assuming this would list the article headers). I saw one article header displayed and it started decoding. So I switched to another application and I could not get back to OSXnews - just got the spinning beach ball. Don't know if it was trying to decode all the messages (binaries) or what (I set it to retrieve 500 msg headers). Anyway, after a little while I had to do a force quit.

I made the mistake of clicking on a message containing an encoded binary, and it automatically started decoding it, without letting me see header info, or allowing me to stop. Apparently the feel users are too impatient to wait to organize the messages to be downloaded. It even went into decode mode when I clicked on the column header to sort by subject! Not allowing the user to control how a message is handled is one of the worst user interface decisions that a developer can make. Unless you like wasting time watching a spinning beach ball when you accidently click on the wrong message, avoid this program.

I just downloaded OSXnews on my iMac OSX 3.8. My initial half-hour trial resulted in favourable results. Don't cry for me, Arge-entina! The initial downloads of my selections of grouplists went fine.

Tho I didn't download any porn lists (these are abundant on the general list), I found the straightforward grouplists were often full of unwanted salacial subject lines which it took me much wasted time to move my reading-eyes thru to get to the germane material subject lines of my interests. Especially, I recall, the grouplist for "Limerick," the entires of which were fine when I found them among the puke. But this is, of coure, the pathetic consequernce of the ethics of Usenet posters who can't observe the slightest decorum of a virtual space.

On the other hand, some grouplists were immune to unwanted stuff (I'm not against the stuff being on the general list for those who want it, but it should be kept in groups on the general list where one knows what one is getting from the group's title). Maybe the apparently immune groups constantly weed out trash ("trash," from the standpoint of the stated topic of the group). Maybe they use filters on their end. In any case, when a group does that, then I have a genuine choice. I resultantly know which grouplists to avoid and to discard promptly and sincerely - those that don't weed and don't filter - go. Not observing a basic decorum is an offense of magnitude often violated on Usenet and OSX offers no protection against this abuse.

As to binaries, I had no trouble with them. Music binaries included, the coding and quality of which I haven't yet tested.

On the basis of this initial test drive, I'm giving a four-star rating; but will be back with a further rating after some use.

But it crashes way to much and the refresh button doesn't work. And danish characters æ, ø and å is missing.