# Usenet **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208 "2005-09-12T04:55:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DuhCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@DuhCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DuhCow)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/1 "2005-09-12T04:55:23Z")
What are some good usenet clients which don’t contain adware or spyware? ---
**Author:** ![IGJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/igjoe/32/5420_2.png) [@IGJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IGJoe)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/2 "2005-09-12T05:22:44Z")
I looooove [Gravity](http://cws.internet.com/file/11436.htm). [Xnews](http://xnews.newsguy.com/) is also pretty cool. Both are free. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/3 "2005-09-12T13:08:26Z")
I don’t use it much anymore, but I used [FreeAgent](http://www.forteinc.com/agent/download.php) for years. I can’t warrant that the current version is free of spyware, but it was a good solid product in past versions. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/4 "2005-09-12T13:29:00Z")
> [@micco](#): > > I don’t use it much anymore, but I used [FreeAgent](http://www.forteinc.com/agent/download.php) for years. I can’t warrant that the current version is free of spyware, but it was a good solid product in past versions. I was about to say the exact same thing. I still use Agent regularly, but I upgraded to the registered version many years ago so I don’t know much about the current version, but the past free versions were very functional. It’s one of those programs that aren’t immediately intuitive, but very simple and efficient once you start using it. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/5 "2005-09-12T14:21:39Z")
A third vote for Agent. And I think the FreeAgent is pretty much the same, except that FreeAgent doesn’t do email. I used Agent for years as my email client, and it’s fast, simple, efficient for both that and newsgroups. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/6 "2005-09-12T14:34:39Z")
I used to use FreeAgent also and it worked very well. That was two computers ago though; I haven’t checked out the Usenet in years. I;m pretty sure that Google (used to be dejanews but Google bought it) allows you to read and post via the web. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/7 "2005-09-12T14:43:01Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > …I haven’t checked out the Usenet in years. I;m pretty sure that Google (used to be dejanews but Google bought it) allows you to read and post via the web. Yes, and it’s a pretty good interface. But it doesn’t let you download binaries. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/8 "2005-09-12T14:46:16Z")
Agent was one of the few shareware items I purchased, it was pretty good. I just use Google now, though. Don’t need binaries anymore. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usenet/321208/9 "2005-09-12T16:05:05Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Yes, and it’s a pretty good interface. But it doesn’t let you download binaries. 😉 If you need this function, look up PowerGrab. It’s freeware, and opens up to 8 simultaneous connections to the news server.