Most standard e-mail programs (Outlook and Outlook Express come to mind) have a built-in newsreader, and those newsreaders are the best way to access Usenet/Newsgroups. If you have a stand-alone e-mail program such as one of those, the newsreader might not be obvious. Use the program's Help screen and keyword "News" to see if you already have it.

A lot of people use Google or other web-based programs to access Usenet, and don't even realize there is a better way. A former poster here recently took exception to one of my posts on sci.geo.earthquakes, and said she was going to have Google-groups ban me!! Apparently she thinks Usenet is part of Google Groups!! I hadn't even heard of Google Groups previously!!

Michael Williams
Arroyo Grande, CA USA