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One of the great annoyances of e–mailing is the proliferation of "spam." Those unwanted advertisements that hock everything from pain pills to get rich quick schemes have become the bane of everyone’s life in cyberspace. No matter what you do, or how careful, it seems that e–mail accounts can quickly turn into depositories of electronic junk mail.
It was only a matter of time before Symantec, known for their ubiquitous Norton Anti Virus, would produce Norton Anti Spam 2004 to combat pesky messages polluting your inbox. Unlike their main competitor’s anti spam program, "Spam–Killer," from McAfee, which creates an entirely separate program to filter messages, Symantec’s Norton Anti Spam 2004 works as a plug–in application. Compatible with the latest versions of Eudora, Outlook and Outlook Express, Norton Anti Spam takes a less obtrusive approach to protection.
Once installed, Norton Anti Spam creates a special spam folder and adds buttons to the toolbar of the host application. Working within programs has its advantages. One does not need to learn an entirely new program, nor does one have to re–enter data.
Not unlike others in the Norton product line, Norton Anti Spam can be updated either passively or directly. Using its own filtering device, Symantec’s application reduces, if not eliminates, the user’s intervention in creating filtering devices. While one can create filters, the problem is that spammers quickly devise new ways around the rules. Certainly, one can create rules and use them to filter out unwanted e–mail. The problem is that this takes time, and is often only marginally effective. Unless you intend to create new rules constantly, working within the confines of existing mail programs can be time consuming. For end users that simply do not have time to devise new rules, anti spam software takes the pain out of filtering e–mail by essentially doing it for you.
In my semi formal tests, Norton Anti Spam 2004 is effective. The impact that it makes on actually downloading and reading e–mail is minor. It also offers fast filtering. Unlike solutions that require a separate application, you do not have to download your messages and then download them again once filtering has been completed. By using the integration method, one simply downloads the messages and allows the application to filter them.
The one feature not present in Norton Anti Spam that is common in others is the ability to send out emails that notify spammers that they have e–mailed a bad address. On the surface this may seem like a deterrent. From my own experiences it has never slowed down the deluge of inbox clutter. The exclusion of this feature may not be that essential. For me, that feature never worked.
Just like the new version of Symantec’s Norton Anti Virus 2004, Anti Spam comes with a new version of product activation. What this means is that if you do not register the product, it will fail to run after fifteen days. This new attempt at product activation is a way to deter the installation of one program on more than one machine at one time. This feature has been met with a lot of apprehension. However, when it is sensibly implemented, read that as being allowed to install on at least two to three machines, the whole activation concept is a little easier to take. Luckily, Symantec is not unreasonable in this regard. But do keep in mind that if you wish to install on more than two or three systems at one time, you may have to purchase a license for multiple installs.
With wizards to walk you through the set up, user editible rules should you need to do this and solid integration with Eudora, Outlook and Outlook Express, Symantec’s latest tool in the war against spam is a respectable way to remove unwanted communications from pesky salesmen in cyberspace. This is particularly true for the user that does not want to invest a moment in dealing with the problem. For the perpetual tweaker, there is room to make changes, but I really see this application designed for the average user who simply does not wish to get that in depth with the problem.
From a number of vantage points, Symantec has produced a solid solution. If you want protection, and want it now with a minum of fuss and confusion, this is the way to go. While it does not offer the same level of protection for Netscape users, the feature set works well.
Do note, the application does filter e–mail from Hotmail accounts, but only when using Outlook, not Outlook Express. In my experiences I have seen problems simply using Outlook in conjunction with Hotmail accounts. So do be aware of that issue. When using Norton Anti Spam 2004 with Eudora, Outlook and Outlook Express, the program behaved as expected without incident.
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