NZB in use usually refers to NZB files. NZB files were developed by Newzbin.com, which is actually a commercial NZB indexing site. NZB files were created to be used with Newsreader software in order to download files from Usenet binary groups. Downloading from Newsgroups can be a daunting task, considering some groups will have literally millions of header information data to download. Once you download all the headers, finding the files you need is a tough task.
NZB files are ideal in that they only store the information on specific files you can find on a News Server. Used in conjunction with a client that supports NZB files (like Newsbin Pro), simply opening the NZB files fills up your download list with the files references in the NZB file. This is a much more quick and efficient method to download from Usenet binary groups, and it took the "complicated" look away from Usenet.
A great fact about NZB files is that they are open-source, so any site can choose to implement support (and so can any software) and quite a few have. The number of sites offering NZB files is starting to explode just like the sharp rise in BitTorrent trackers. Some are commercial (like Newzbin.com, which is commercial but extremely cheap) and there are many more free sites. Some sites (like binsearch.info) allow you to browse through particular Newsgroups and select files in order to "create an NZB file" on the fly - this is particularly good for music groups.
Other sites like binaries.nl, also offer the ability to search through specific groups, but also let you add files to a list from different groups to create an NZB later. The introduction of NZB files has led to a sharp rise in interest of binary groups among mainly the P2P community. Many long-time Usenet users express concerns about the attention that is being dragged to Usenet by the P2P community since NZB files gained widespread use.
Related Guides
Introducing Usenet binary groups- Due to constant demand, we have decided to add an introductory article about Usenet/Newsgroups. This guide explains how Usenet binary groups work and how you can easily download content from them. It also gives a brief introduction to Usenet and explains why it is such a great resource. This article is structured as a "Getting Started" example (explained below).
