Agreed - the slyck site is very informative.
The problem with a lot of newsgroup software is that it can appear a bit daunting to the beginner. You might want to sign up to
Usenext. They have a 14-day free trial, and I found that their software was quite easy to use to get the hang of things (in much the same way as AOL software is easy to use, until you find the alternatives you prefer)