NewsWolf

Designed to complement your Usenet newsreader by searching out public-access news servers, this tool offers real usefulness only to those who post to newsgroups frequently throughout the day.

NewsWolf's interface has several buttons and multiple panes; the resulting design is slightly cluttered and confusing. Once you enter your ISP's news server, NewsWolf downloads and displays its list of newsgroups. The on-the-fly filtering feature worked well. After we specified newsgroups of interest, the tool searched for free news servers and determined which ones didn't require authentication after making a successful connection. It worked quickly, but the process of working through the entire list of servers required a long wait.

Despite the publisher's claims, the app didn't download article headers from our selected newsgroups. A help guide would be a welcome addition to this free program. Incessant posters to Usenet groups and experienced users may find NewsWolf a handy addition to their newsreader tool pack, but novices will be left confused.