HTTP, unfortunately, fails to deal with discussion forums in an elegant way. These tools, then, are under the control of the server administrator - not the user. If the user decides that he would like to be able to scan only unread messages, the server administrator must build this function into the forum interface and maintain a database of that messages that user has already viewed. Similarly, if a user wants to only view messages in specific forums from specific people about specific topics, the administrator must build in these functions and maintain the user's preference data. NNTP was designed for this use.
Users can choose from a wide array of newsreaders on a huge number of platforms.
With this software, performing the above functions is simple since the server only provides basic information such as message date, subject and sender, leaving the newsreader to perform whatever contortions the user desires. Most importantly, the newsreader is responsible for saving all of the user's preferences and history. From a user point of view, NNTP also has the advantage of being a common protocol. Many Internet users already read Usenet news so they are comfortable with their chosen newsreader. For these users, reading another newsgroup requires essentially no learning effort.