By Steve Beyer:
Today, I am also very excited to share with you my review of Panic Software’s newly updated Usenet browser called Unison 2. Yes, this is the same Panic software that has brought us other favorites such as Transmit, a Mac FTP client, Coda, the One Window Web development framework, and Candy Bar, the app that lets you customize and organize icons.
Since all of these are some of my favorite Mac apps, I started my exploration of Unison with high expectations and I’m happy to say they succeeded in fulfilling them.
Before we talk about Unison, it probably wouldn’t hurt to give you a bit of background about The Usenet. The Usenet is the Grand Daddy of Internet communication and file sharing. It was conceived by two guys at Duke in 1979. This was way before the world wide web and even before most of us were able to access the Internet. It uses UUCP the Unix to Unix Copy Protocol. Unlike a standard bulletin board or computer forum where the information is centralized on one computer, Usenet distributes its information across all the computers on it network much like the BitTorrents of today. There are over 100,000 special interest areas called news groups. Each allows its users to share and discuss literally almost any topic.
A Usenet browser or client is needed In order to access Usenet newsgroups. Several free and paid clients are available on most any operating system. Unison is a Mac only client that makes accessing and organizing newsgroups easy and fun. Most clients are text based in nature. Unison is a real Mac style client organized in much the same way as Apple Mail. The familiar 3 sections, one on the left and two on the right, allows the user to jump right in and feel comfortable right from the beginning.
When you first open Unison, you are presented with 18 icons which include food, sports, travel and TV. Clicking on one of the icons starts a search in the specified area. This search list all of the newsgroups that match sorted by number of messages contained within the newsgroup. Clic king on a newsgroup subscribes the user and places the newsgroup in the left hand column in much the same fashion as one of your email accounts in Mail. Each time the program is opened the number of new messages is listed for each of the subscribed newsgroups.
Once you become comfortable with Unison, you can take off the training wheels and move from the Directory Section of the left hand column to “All Groups” section. This allows access to all of the newsgroup feeds provided by your newsgroup provider. The right hand column changes from the icons to five columns which behave much like the finder in column view. Clicking on an item in the first column opens up a list in the second column. Each click on the column continues this process until a single news feed is open and subscribed. The familiar mac style search box with its customary magnifying glass is located on the upper right hand side of the toolbar.
Unison really shines over the free clients by offering several nice features. Unison provides group options such as auto-loading and off line reading. A thread view option allows the user to read all of the messages from all of the subscribed newsgroups. Thread lines make it easier to see who has replied to a message. The user can view and post messages in Plain Text or HTML. Working with files moves from being a chore to a fun experience. You can view the messages by Text Message, Messages with Files, or both. The user is able to see images, music, files and messages in one view. Unison provides “Smart Downloading” and allows a download to be restarted from the point where it stopped when a connection fails or the program is quit. Unison has built in unarchiving and rejoining utilities built in so no external tools are needed. It also provides uploading of binary files with one click and preview of music by streaming directly off the server.
If you want to participate on Usenet you have to have access to a Usenet server. Quite a few internet service provides include this service. Several Usenet providers are readily found using google. Panic software also provides the option of an unlimited download plan for only $9 per month. The real plus to this account beyond unlimited transfer are the extras that are not normally included by most ISPs. Panic software maintains a 2+ year backlog of discussions and 300 days of binary files. It supports SSL and up to 8 simultaneous connects and you can cancel at any time.
Usenet is not for everyone. As with most things internet, you can gather new knowledge and have you questions answered but you can also get involved with the darker side of the internet. Usenet is probably the original social network so if you enjoy Facebook or Twitter you might want to give it a try. Unison is available for $29 or $18 for an upgrade. A free, uncrippled version of the software is available for download. Panic also offers a 1 day trial of their Usenet access. If it sounds interesting why not give it try today.
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