Offline newsreading enables you to read newsgroup messages without being connected to the Internet. After downloading news messages to your computer, you can log off from the Internet and then read the messages at your leisure. By reading newsgroup messages offline, you can save connection costs, free up a phone line, and read newsgroups at any time even if you aren't connected to the Internet.
You can download message headers only, which tell you the subject, author, and size of the message. Or you can download complete messages, including attached files. Downloading only the message headers in a newsgroup is much faster than downloading the messages, and it can still give you an idea of the current discussions. While you are offline, you can mark the headers that look interesting and then download only those messages.
The following topics give you more information about offline reading: