I hear a lot about them, but have no clue as to how to get started.
Do you need a special browser? Any help is appreciated.
Well… where to begin. Many (most?) email programmes support newsgroups. You will need to know your ISPs address for newsgroups, normally something like news.myisp.com. You then go and create a newsgroup account, you should find it under “options” or “tools” or something. Once your account is created, you can see a list of newsgroups via your email client and you can “subscribe” to the ones you want to read.
In Outlook Express 6 go to Tools - newsgroups.
How do I find the name of the Internet news (NNTP) server that your internet procvider has given me?
They probably list it on their web page, in the help section. Or their technical support people will know off the top of their collective head. But wait - “your” internet provider? Are you asking for Skogcat’s? Your own ISP will provide a news server.
You ask 'em 
Or, a lot of ISPs will post this info on their own websites, maybe in a FAQ or something. You may or may not need to use a username/password to access your ISPs news server, frequently it’s the same as your e-mail username/password. Ultimately this is a question best answered by your ISP.
Alternately, groups.google.com will allow you to post messages to Usenet (Usenet is the collective name of the thousands and thousands of newsgroups). You just need to a free registration with them.
A bit of advice: most newsgroups are not moderated, which means it’s a free for all most of the time. People who are only accustomed to posting on nice moderated web boards like this one are frequently in for a shock… poke around alt.fan.cecil-adams and you’ll see what I mean, and it’s one of the nicer newsgroups.
Netscape: window: mail & newsgroups
IE: tools: mail & news
They use their own public newservers, which aren’t all that hot.
You can use groups.google.com also. It’s not real time and some of the messages get lost but it’s better than having to find a server.
Be aware that more and more ISPs are ceasing to offer an NNTP server, and many university networks have stopped already. This is due to the fact that Usenet has become less popular with the rise of the web, and also the fact that many users want to download pr0n, warez, or music, files which can take up a huge amount of space. At least now there are pay services (or the decent Google Groups), but getting an NNTP address as part of your ISP signup package is a dying tradition. 
UnuMondo
That’s generally the rule as of late, UnoMondo, but there are some exceptions. For instance, I signed up with BellSouth DSL about 2 years ago. Their news server was crap. Few messages were coming through and nothing was propagating out. When I called to complain, they said there was nothing they could do. I cancelled my account a couple days later, and made sure I let them know that Usenet was the reason.
I signed up with the only other DSL ISP in my area. When they went out of business a few months ago, it was back to BellSouth…and a pleasant surprise. Their Usenet service is much, much better now. Maybe several people like me complained.
One suggestion I would offer to those that have a lousy ISP news server is the Teranews “free” service. The reason for the quotes is that you do have to pay a one-time $4 fee for the service, but that’s peanuts compared to what other providers charge you every month. If you’re out for binaries, Teranews probably isn’t your best bet, as it only lets you download 50MB/day, but it’s a great solution for those who only want access to Usenet for the discussion groups.
You don’t want to use IE. Use a program called Free Agent instead.
A beginner? I dunno, I think Outlook Express is a little easier to use for someone unfamiliar with Usenet than Forte Agent. Agent is undeniably more powerful and just better, but Outlook Express is probably a little more familiar.
I also think Agent’s advantages aren’t quite as useful if you’re just using Usenet for traditional non-binary discussion.
People use Usenet for traditional non-binary discussion? Well, color me shocked! :eek:
Who are you people?? 
MeanJoe
I have been using Agent for years, it does take some know how to set up…but guess what? There are Agent newsgroups.
OK I got my newsgroups set up through Comcast using Outlook 6.
But it all seems like a bunch of useless crap…
Am I missing something? Because it isnt the vast sea of information I was seeking.
Specifically I am looking for some audiobooks. But every file is either gibberish or someone asking a question.
Advice?
You’re probably looking at binary files. Usenet files are encoded in TEXT, which is what you saw. Thats why one uses Agent as it decodes those TEXT files. For outlook I guess you select all files then combine & decode. Haven’t tried it myself with Outlook but read that’s what others use.