Forte Agent 7.0 Usenet Client Released

Forte recently announced the release of Forte Agent 7.0 Usenet client.  The last version (6.0) came out toward the end of 2009 so we we’re glad to see Forte release another major update.  It sounds like they put a lot of effort into re-engineering Agent 7.0 to handle the rapid growth and expansion of Usenet.  The major updates include article number expansion, optimized message retrieval, improved saving of attachments and improved connectivity with SMTP servers.  Take a look at the Agent 7.0 bulletin to learn more about the new release.

Those new to Forte Agent can download a 30 day free trial of the newsreader.  You can purchase a new license for $29 or upgrade from version 6.0 for $19.  Either comes with three months of free APN access.  Agent Premium News (APN) is Agent’s Usenet service.  It supports 600 days of binary retention.  Those who buy a license for Agent 7.0 also receive 15 GB of APN Usenet access a month for three consecutive months.  After that prices range from $2.95 a month up to $14.75 a month depending on your desired usage.

Those currently running older versions of Agent will want to back up your data before installing 7.0.  The new release is not compatible with older versions of Agent.  See their Agent release notes for more details.

Visit Newsgroup Reviews to learn more about Usenet.  Follow us @NewsgroupRevs for the latest deals.

Agent News Reader + 3 Months Free APN Access

Forte is running a promotion on their Agent newsreader client.  Buy a new copy of Agent News Reader 6.0 or upgrade and receive three months of free APN newsgroup access.  What is APN?  APN stands for Agent Premium News and is Forte’s Usenet service.  Offering unlimited downloads and 600 days of binary retention.

The current Agent newsreader promotion is definitely worth checking out.  Agent Usenet browser is priced at $29.00 for new customers and $19.00 for returning members looking to upgrade to version 6.  Both new purchases and upgrades come with 3 months of free APN Usenet service.

Three months of free Agent Premium News is a good deal for anyone seeking Usenet access.  However when the free months end the APN service is expensive.  At $14.75 a month for unlimited Usenet versus $8-$10 a month from leading Usenet providers like UNS, NewshostingNewsDemon and Astraweb.  All of which have 1,000+ days of binary retention versus 600 days for APN.

Agent News Reader is the latest Usenet client to offer special promotions.  Earlier this month Newsbin Pro cut the price of their reader from $35 down to $15.  With the popularity of free newsreaders (SABnzbd, GrabIt) and Usenet services like Giganews (Mimo) and Thundernews (News Rover) including free clients, the market is getting very competitive.  Visit our newsreader section to learn more and download the latest Usenet clients.

Favorite Usenet Provider, Newsreader, Search Engine

A month ago we launched a few polls so visitors could vote for their favorite Usenet provider, newsreader and Usenet search engine.  The Usenet provider and newsreader polls were very close with no clear winner.  Nzbmatrix won big in the Usenet search poll.  Here is a breakdown of the most popular in each category.

Favorite Usenet Provider Poll Results:
Astraweb received 28% of the votes
Giganews received 24% of the votes
NewsDemon received 23% of the votes

Favorite Newsreader Poll Results:
Newsleecher received 17% of the votes
Alt.Binz received 17% of the votes
SABnzbd received 14% of the votes
GrabIt received 13% of the votes
Forte Agent received 12% of the votes
NewsBin Pro received 10% of the votes

Favorite Usenet Search Poll Results:
Nzbmatrix received 37% of the votes
Binsearch received 11% of the votes
Newzbin received 9% of the votes
Newzleech received 9% of the votes

Congratulations to the winners.  If your favorite service, software or search site missed the cut this time around stay tuned as we’ll be bringing more polls and interactive features to NewsgroupReviews in the near future.

Latest Usenet Newsreader Updates : February 2010

While we spend a lot of time covering Usenet providers the newsreader vendors have been quite busy as well.  Let’s take a look at some of the major updates and version changes over the last few months.

Visit our newsreader section to compare and contrast all the newsgroup clients.  Then head over to the downloads page to grab the latest version of your favorite Usenet reader.

Newsreader: SABnzbd+
Latest version: 0.5.0 RC6
Release date: Feb. 7, 2010
Operating system support – Windows, Mac, Unix
Helpful links:  Free download, SABnzbd+ 0.5.0 Quick-start, Release notes

Newsreader: Unison
Latest version: 2.0.4
Release date: Feb. 2, 2010
Operating system support – Mac OS X 10.5+
Helpful links: Demo download, Unison setup guide, Unison 2 features

Newsreader: News Rover
Latest version: 15
Release date: Sept. 8, 2009
Operating system support – Windows
Helpful links:  Trial download, News Rover setup guide, News Rover 15 features

Newsreader: BinTube
Latest version: 2.8.9.3
Release date: Feb. 12, 2010
Operating system support: Windows
Helpful links:  Free download, BinTube setup guide, BinTube review

Newsreader: Forte Agent
Latest version: 6.0
Release date: Nov. 21, 2009
Operating system support – Windows
Helpful links:  Trial download, Forte Agent setup guide, Agent version 6 info

Newsreader: Thunderbird
Latest version: 2.0.0.23
Release date: Aug. 20, 2009
Operating system support – Windows, Mac, Unix
Helpful links:  Free download, Thunderbird setup guide, Thunderbird newsreader info

New to Usenet?  Take a look at our newsreader tutorial to learn more about how Usenet clients work and tips for choosing the right software for your needs.

Forte Agent 6.0 Newsreader Released

Forte has released version 6.0 of their popular Agent newsgroup reader.  The Usenet client has been around since 1995 and provides a number of premium features.  The latest iteration of Agent (6.0) supports the 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.

Here are some of the enhancement in Agent version 6.0:

– Automatic server failover when downloading message bodies
– Faster Usenet header downloads (compressed headers)
– A new hide-quoted-text command
– Improved browser navigation
– New go-offline and retry-failed-tasks-now commands
– Improvements to searching

Forte offers a 30 day free trial of Agent.  The software costs $29 to purchase and then $19 for upgrades.  To learn more about the client read our Forte Agent 6.0 review or Agent setup guide.