Regarding the WARNING Message ...

I see that some folks here got a virus from a WARNING message posted to this newsgroup. My sympathies. I've had viruses, too.

... OK, look: If you are using MS Outlook because it was there when you bought your computer and it's free; you just found out what it really costs. Bill Gates built code into his newsreader so that Microsoft can use it someday to mess with you. There was a trial about it. It was in all the papers. The problem is, that OTHER folks can use that code to mess with you, too.

Netscape is the same. They had to follow MSs lead, and I wouldn't use their built-in newsreader or email client, either.

******

You don't have to put up with it.

Get Forte's AGent newsreader. It's much, much better, competely safe, MUCH easier to use, and it's free.

http://www.forte.com

I use Microplanet's Gravity newsreader. Same story. I just happen to prefer it because it supports these great filters that throw away spam and automatically download messages I'm interested in reading, like the posts from Jordan Bassoir.

http://www.microplanet.com

XNews is a new newsreader that is also free and has gotten good marks from its new users.

These news readers are very easy to set up. Just download the zip files; unzip them, and install them just like you'd install anything else on your MS Windows machine, and double-click on the icon. They are GREAT.

******

Any additions or corrections?

L&R

PS: By the way, there are much better and safer email readers out there, too. Eudora is very good. I'm about to try out a program called PCPine, which is probably even better. These email programs have much better spam filtering than Outlook has.

In article ,

Correction: Forte's "FreeAgent" is free. It is a fully functional client, but there are parts that, if you want them, you have to pay for, for example filters. But if you have no use for these features, Agent has plenty of satisfied users to its credit, many who will tell you their own personalised horror story that led to them ditching MSOE...

Newsbin Pro is good if you are into mass downloads of large binaries like mpegs.

duz

On Fri, 08 Feb 2002 19:45:24 GMT, love and rockets wrote:

In article , love and rockets wrote:

Or you can do what I do and simply check your email and news on your Macintosh. I have Windows/Intel machines and Linux/Intel machines too, but when I get my mail and news and do most of my Web surfing I'm on my beloved G3 Blue-and-white. I've had it since August 1999 and it still feels faster and better than my PCs.

And even better: it's immune to Windows system virii. If you run Office 98 or Office 2001 for Mac you might get a macro virus that fux0rz documents but the virus stops there.

BTW this workhorse Mac of mine is named Trent. Originally I named it Daria but it was initially kinda crash prone. After I found out why Trent crashed so much...it was an extension to activate the Adaptec 2906 SCSI card, and now I only activate it to do backups...it's been rock-solid. It's still called Trent, though. ;-)

--.\\<-H--

In article , Michelle Klein-Hass wrote:

I know that feeling, though I'm an Acorn user myself. The thing that Acorns and Apples have in common is that they were designed to have a GUI on them from day one, so the GUI in each case runs a lot more efficiently. Whether I am running a processor at a higher speed or not, this means that the whole system feels a lot better than Windows, and since I don't have an i86 derivative as my main processor, I don't have to worry about that kind of virus either...

...since I don't use Office at all, this is not a problem for me either. The thing is that many virus writers tend (according to recent trade press anyway) to be adolescent males, and the majority use Windows. OK, so Windows is the preferred system overall, but that just means that more viruses get written for Windows than anything else.

Mind you, given Daria's habit of crashing into dogs while driving, you could have gotten away with it! Unless you are wearing contacts of course... :)

I actually have three working Acorns, of which Miyuki is my current net system. Madoka acts as a backup, and little Chika is my portable. All three feature in CAPOW, an anime tandem writing group, though I'm not as prolific a writer now as I once was... Other than that, I am currently rebuilding my Linux server (Misako).

In article , [email] says...

If I weren't trapped in the Windows world; I would join you. Apple stuff is almost always better. However, many of us have to run the same stuff that our clients use, and my clients use Windows.

There are no perfect solutions, but Windows is fast becoming the most imperfect solution. It has showstopper snoop code, and that code introduces a massive number of hidious bugs that destroy my data at random and by surprise. It's only worse in the newest MS OSs.

Many open source software apps are really good, and I'll probably go in that direction soon. I'd rather pay money to programmers who cared about what they did, than to pay four times the money to the boss of the boss of guys and gals who have to apologize for what they did.

I haven't gone to Linux yet, but I have the gnu utilities installed on my system. gnu is the rock solid user side of Unix/linux. It runs under windows better than windows stuff does. It's free, and I guarantee you'll never use MS Dos again after you try it.

L&R

In article , love and rockets wrote:

Note my sig...I'm an MCSE. However, I do not let that get in the way of my common sense. Diversity is always good, standardizing on one platform only is asking for trouble. I suspect that adopting Linux is a better choice for those running PCs...it runs on the same hardware that Windows runs on, and does not require further investment in hardware...at least not usually.

I suspect that in spite of Microsoft's efforts, hybrid Windows/Linux networks will be sprouting up in offices everywhere. The server program Samba now has just about as much functionality as a Windows NT4 domain controller, and the Samba Team is busy working on 3.0 which will give full connectivity with Windows 2000 and Active Directory. With licensing costs going through the roof, and Samba getting better and better, I suspect the use of Linux and Samba for servers in Windows networks will grow in the future.

Now that I have spent all this time (almost a year) getting my MCSE, I intend to learn a lot more about Linux. Windows might be the present, but more and more Linux represents the future.

--.\\<-H--

In article , [email] says...

It's probably old news here, but congratulations on the MCSE. I know that it's hard work to earn it and I'm a little jealous. I've looked at Java certification myself. I'm better at programming for it even though I dont have the certificate.

I've worked contracts at Apple and have two older machines here from those times. One of them runs Fontographer and I still use it occasionally to design dingbats, ideographs and font subsets. I just don't have the money right now to buy an Apple, which still costs fifty percent more than an "equivalent" Windows machine.

I suspect that all platforms are getting just powerful enough to give the "Webcomic" phenomenon the power it needs to start producing some really nice stuff. While animation sounds far- fetched, I don't think it's beyond hope that animation programs will soon be powerful enough to let non-animators start creating short animations as well.

Perhaps that new software will give "Daria" a fan boost from a few fan-created short-shorts one of these days. Maybe we'll see some shorts on Fan sites, next to the fan-written short stories Right now, animations are possible but probably too much work.

L&R

why wait? you can use Flash now. Some very real cartoons are already made with it like Home Movies (season 2) yet it runs on any modest system.

-l

On Mon, 11 Feb 2002 20:50:27 GMT, Amelius Unhappy wrote:

You have low standards in love, then.

That's not a slam on MS, more on the philosophy behind that statement.

"love and rockets" wrote in message

if you don't mind to restart your computer every hour or so :)

- l

In article , "lupin" wrote:

To be fair, Lupin, Windows 2000 is a lot more stable than any version of Windows before or since. I find I only have to reboot Windows 2K every couple of days or so. Sometimes W2K is so good I don't have to reboot it for a week or so.

Compare and contrast to 9x...it's prone to memory fragmentation and DOS-related cantankerousness. Also XP is not as solid as 2K.

--.\\<-H--

My previous system that had WINNT 4 after a few service packs was stable as a rock. It would take any abuse for months at a time without rebooting and i mostly rebooted it after installations, i think it went for 4 months one time without a glitch. Win2K (my current system) isn't as stable and it seems to have some memory leaks so I would usually reboot it at least once a week, 4 weeks without rebooting under constant use was the record. WinXP... i just don't see any incentive to upgrade...

At the same time i am yet to see a Mac system that wouldn't need a reboot at least once a day...

Mac has its advantages (i guess) but they come at a price. Are they really better? Not from ROI standpoint for sure. If you are a hardcore Photoshop user and don't mind sticking with MacOS 9 for the time being and paying 50% more for a comparable system - then it may be for you. To be absolutely truthful, i don't see any advantages of Macs (i am using one at work) except that for certain professions it is a "necessary evil" and you won't go far unless you use one... I prefer the flexibility of Windows based systems and although i dream of an alternative compatible OS that dream will not likely to come true...

-l

"Michelle Klein-Hass" wrote in message news:[email]...

it seems that many applications do not unload completely after you close them or end all related processes through the Task Manager, so the RAM gradually "fills up". With NT4 i could get my RAM usage close to 100MB after months of constant desktop use but W2K goes to 300MB very quickly and no amount of tweaking can reclaim the memory back... It doesn't crash, i just reboot it myself :( Task Manager seemed to do its job under NT4 but in W2K it's just making a show for the stupid. I suspect that it's done with the purpose to limit our control over what is going on in the memory.

other than what i described i have no problems with networking, multimedia, stability, USB compatibility, PnP, ease of use, etc. etc. under W2K. Maybe im just not using it to test all the aspects? :) As for Millenium, no child of Win95 has been an option for me since October '96 (NT4 release). To be honest, i never even seen (or noticed) the little bugger...

I am doing all that on W2K concurrently and uploading a file at the same time... And i SMP too...

thanks, i think i'll give it another year or so. XP seems to me as Billy's personal bot probe on my desktop reporting my every move back to the Redmond mothership... If only the suckers fixed that memory problem i described i would've probably used W2K for another 3 years at least, just like NT4 was my system for a little less than 5 years. But they will never fix it, W2K is a dropped product as i understand... I pray without much hope that by the time im forced to upgrade there will be a viable non-M$ alternative (no Apples need apply).

-l

thanks for telling me about appkiller, all i can find is a time-limited trial version but it's good info anyway.

- l

"Amelius Unhappy" wrote in message news:[email]...

after

just

W2K

multimedia,

Maybe

child

Billy's

Redmond

was

is

In article , [email] says...

I tried this program before and it just didn't do it for me. However...

...Gravity, on the other hand, just rocks! I downloaded it yesterday and I must say that I am very impressed! It has so many bells and whistles that I'm still in awe right now. I tried repeatedly to go to the microplanet site but they have been down for the past couple of days...or something. I had to go to Webattack to download the 2.5 version.

L&R you really came through on this one though.

<Ms Barch channelling Scarlett O'Hara>

I will nayuhver use Outlook ahgayun!

</Ms Barch channelling Scarlett O'Hara>

Okay I still use it for email...but I am open to any other email client out there EXCEPT ones that have anything to do with PINE!

<SHUDDER>

PINE brings back some BAD memories....and NO I don't want talk about it...

Firah

Firah wrote:

Tried Pegasus?

http://www.pmail.com

Teph

In article , [email] says...

Yeah, about 4 years ago but I was a big on Eudora back then. However, a lot can, and did, happen in 4 years so I'll go look at again.

Firah

Firah wrote:

Version 4 is dramatically different, especially if used in preview mode. :)

It supports HTML much better (though it won't take images off servers or run scripts and other unsecure habits) and I must admit the preview pane is very addictive. The internal viewer for images is MUCH better than it was in previous versions and the arrangement of text and attachments is much handier than it was with version 3.

Teph

In article , [email] says...

I've downloaded it now. I'll keep you posted!

Thanks!

Firah

I hope it does the trick for you. :)

I love it myself but then I used pine for years before ending up with this weird GUI stuff. :)

Teph

In article , [email] says...

Gawrsh, thanks for the kind words.

Go to alt.usenet.offline-reader. It is mostly Gravity posts. There's a guy there named Tom Bates, who is the informal Major User and Gravity-keeper-of-the-flame, who knows all about how to do anything with Gravity. He especially knows how to set up filters. Here are his "Gravity" home pages:

http://members.home.net/gravitypages/ http://lightning.prohosting.com/~tbates/gravity/

Also, Gravity is not the only good newsreader out there any more. I suspect that they all are worth trying, but I really do like Gravity's filters and the header download speed and lots of other stuff.

L&R