Mac

Windows

New version

A popular free email client that is suitable for Novell NetWare as well as standalone systems. Facilities include spell checking and support for mailing lists.

SpamEater Standard
v2.2
Freeware version

Try fighting spam with this new Shareware version of SpamEater Pro. The attraction of SpamEater is its ability to delete unwanted email from your mail server before you waste time downloading it. Comes with a hefty list of spammer addresses but you can add your own too. You can also choose to receive 'acceptable' addresses only, excluding any others.

SpamEater does not work with AOL or Web-based email accounts – it requires a POP3 email account.

Web link: www.hms.com

Ristra monitors your free email accounts and lets you know if there are any messages waiting for you.

Web link: http://welcome.to/ristra

Freeware

Another helper to tell you when there's new email in your Web email accounts.

Web link: http://welcome.to/cksoftware

The free email services lack privacy and security features, such as encryption or digital certificates. A-Lock is a handy tool to add to your free email armoury. It can be used with Hotmail to automatically encrypt and decrypt mail.

Web link: http://www.a-lock.com

Y3K Spam Solution is designed to stop spiders 'sucking' email addresses out of HTML pages. It encrypts your email address and places it onto the HTML page. It then relies on a JavaScript to decrypt it. The correct email address is never shown in coded form so it can't be taken from the page. This could be a big help.

Web link: www.itdirect.com/y3k

Deadletter is a unique anti-spam plug-in for Eudora Pro or Light (minimum requirement version 3.05). It is inherently superior to other junk mail filters in that it does not rely on quickly outdated lists of spam senders. Instead it is based on a group of 'rules' that defines unwanted mail by the marketing orientated content in the body of the message. Other products use a more complex 'set of rules' filter system which is in practice less effective.

Web link: www.bluewolfnet.com

A fiendish little program to get back at spammers with. Spam Bait automatically creates a Web page containing a user specified number of random mailto: links. Once created, the user places the generated HTML page on their Web server and links to it from their main Web page.

As Spam Bait's programmer suggests: "Spammers do not have the time to weed out the fake email addresses by hand. The more fake email addresses that get into a spammer's database, the less desirable the database becomes. The less desirable the database, the less people will buy the database from the spammer. The less people that buy the database, the less spam will be sent out."

There is no installation program. Simply copy the software\windows\mail\spam\spam bait folder to your hard disk and run spambait.exe by double clicking its icon. Enter the number of bogus email addresses that you want to create and click the 'Generate HTML File' button. A 'Save As...' dialog box appears that lets you save your HTML file. Next, make a link to it from one of your main pages and upload the file to your Web site.

If the program complains about a missing DLL, then you probably need the file mfc42.dll — copy it from the software\windows\utils folder on the CD to your windows\system folder.

Eudora Spell Checker
(Win3.x)

Plugin a spell checker for Eudora Light. You will also find a British dictionary file in the software\windows\mail\eudora folder which you can copy to wherever you install the program.

This cutdown freeware version of the well-known Eudora mail program is a fruitful taste of what you get if you cough up for the Pro version. Eudora Light is highly configurable and easy to use despite its power.

Web link: www.eudora.com

Mac OS

NOTE: The Mac programs are mostly in archived 'HQX' (BinHex) files – they can be extracted with several applications, including Stuffit Expander (which is on the CD...). Clicking on the links below should set the process in motion. You may receive a message that the file cannot be loaded into Simple Text — if so, start Stuffit and then open the HQX file you want from within Stuffit.

A competent free email client with many features.

Recently updated

A program for creating mailings that consist of individualised email messages, Email Merge takes a database of information and an email message and merges the two to create customised emails. Supports popular email programs; database sorting and duplicate finding; built-in merge parameters for time, date, and message number; and verification of outgoing email addresses and attachments.

Minimum requirements: either Claris Emailer, Eudora Pro/Light, or Outlook Express; and AppleScript.

Eudora Light by name but still a powerful Internet mail program, a free version of the heavyweight Pro.

Installation: Once you have the Eudora Light software unpacked on your hard disk, restart your Mac while holding down the shift key to turn off your Macintosh extensions (you must hold down the shift key until you see the message 'Extensions off'). Now double-click the Eudora Light Installer icon to start the installation program and follow the instructions.

Web link: www.eudora.com