Entered CNET Catalog: 04/11/2003
SKU: CNETSPAMNIXEUDORA
Manufacturer: Spamnix Software
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 02/18/2003
After install, Spamnix creates a folder where it stashes spam so that you can examine it before deleting it.
Spamnix's interface is also simplicity itself. The utility adds four buttons to Eudora's toolbar--one each for accepting or rejecting messages, another that lets you customize the filter, and one that links to Spamnix's tech-support Web page. The app also adds a folder where it stores suspect spam. Simply check your mail as usual; Spamnix scans the messages and places spam into that folder. In our tests, Spamnix caught 90 percent of the junk mail and incorrectly tagged only a handful of messages--easily the best performance we've seen in a spam filter to date.
Spamnix's feature set is bare-bones, but that's OK--a good antispam filter shouldn't require much interaction. When a piece of spam manages to sneak by Spamnix and land in your in-box, you simply open the message and click the Reject Message button. Spamnix will then block all future messages from this sender (however, you'll have to manually delete the message in question). Similarly, if it catches something that isn't spam, with a few clicks, you can add the sender's address to your white list, contacts whose correspondence you will accept. Unfortunately, you'll also need to move the cleared message to your in-box yourself--an unavoidable limitation of Eudora's application interface, according to Spamnix.
When a piece of spam does slip by Spamnix, you can create a filter to block future mail from that sender's address, its domain, or any messages with the same subject line.
While Spamnix gives you the ability to create new filters to accept or reject mail based on the message's return address, domain, or subject, these filters may not add much protection to the program's own algorithms. For one thing, spammers usually fake or vary header information to try to avoid filters. But also, Spamnix Software is constantly tweaking its product; there were six small upgrades during the course of this review, most of which were behind-the-scenes improvements to the antispam algorithm.
One upgrade, however, added a minor glitch during out tests: upon upgrading Spamnix, Eudora lost two of Spamnix's four buttons. Reinstalling them is a simple drag-and-drop process, but we had to contact tech support to find out what happened.
The Spamnix Web site contains answers to most questions you might have. If you have a question about Spamnix that the site doesn't answer, you have only two options: send e-mail or call the toll number. In either case, you'll reach the guy who wrote the program; as of the time of this review, Spamnix was still a one-person operation. We got our e-mail queries answered in less than two hours and reached Barry Jaspan (a.k.a. Mr. Spamnix) immediately when we called. Support doesn't get more personal than that.
Spamnix is so simple that you probably won't need much help. If you do, your options are limited to a Web support center, e-mail, or a toll call.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15out of 15 user reviews
Best spam filter there is!
Pros: works nearly perfectly
Cons: none (except that it's not free!)
out of 15 user reviews
Spamnix if great
Pros: Simple to use
Cons: Doers not have a "Whitelist" option
Con- It does not have a "whitelist" option where one could add a text list of acceptable addresses or domains, which would save a lot of time creating "rules" for "legal" email. It's misidentifying some good email as spam which could have been avoided with a whitelist.
That said, it's still worth the bucks. Knocks the sox off of Eudora 6's filter (which I thought was pretty good until I tried Sx).
out of 15 user reviews
DUMB PARAMETERS
Pros:
Cons: IF YOU USE CAPITALS IN THE SUBJECT HEADER, you will get dinged as spam. If you have a numeric e-mail address, you will get dinged as spam. Maybe the software authors don't understand that it is common to use CAPITALS in HEADERS/TITLES. Then it objects
out of 15 user reviews
Best spam filter I have found
Pros: I have been using Spamnix for a couple months and have been very pleased with it. I have several e-mail address and a couple are published on the web so I get TONS of spam. It filters 95% of the SPAM automatically and it keeps getting better as I train
Cons: It definitely slows down the incoming mail but it is far more effecient than many others. It is a 9mb process that does slow your machine down a bit too.
out of 15 user reviews
Bad !!!!
Pros:
Cons: I get more spam since I bought this program than before. At least 18 spams a day . They are a ripp off. Don't get sucked in on this one..... Belive me, I am only trying to save you a headace.
out of 15 user reviews
A lot of work.
Pros: Makes recognition of HTML spam easier. More reliable than just Eudora and would spare 1st time Eudora users a lot of work making filters.
Cons: Really not effective enough. About 3/4 of spam slipped by it. Requires a lot of time to identify text only spam and make a Eudora filter to move it to the spam box. Far too many false positives, which user can't reverse. (The New York Times is apparently
out of 15 user reviews
Well Worth the $. Fast & Effective. Must Have!
Pros: In my opinion, this software is really great. It does the trick of eliminating spam from my inbox at lighting speed. On occasion it flags a couple wrong messages, but that's because of the strange programs the sender is using (not authentic). Spamnix is a
Cons: Needs the ability to add custom filters or change rules settings from default.
out of 15 user reviews
Must have, even with Eudora 6
Pros: Spamnix has done an amazing job for me in Eudora 5, and I'm finding it's still necessary in Eudora 6 because Eudora's spam filtering is not 100% effective.
Cons:
out of 15 user reviews
Where have you been all my life?!
Pros: About 10 days ago a virus wiped out my hard drive. I've recovered but I lost all my Eudora filters. Rather than try to recreate them all, I downloaded this product. WOW!! So far it has caught 98% of my spam -- far more than was being caught by my previou
Cons:
out of 15 user reviews
Easy and Effective
Pros: Immediately effective for @80% of my spam. I dialed it in over a week and now it catches 100%, with no false positives. Much better than trying to configure Eurora's fileters to replicate SpamAssassin rule set.
Cons: slows downloading of email slightly
out of 15 user reviews
Much more than Eudora's filters
Pros:
Cons:
out of 15 user reviews
Terrific product!
Pros:
Cons:
out of 15 user reviews
More rules?
Pros:
Cons:
out of 15 user reviews
Its about $#%^#@#$$ time!
Pros:
Cons:
out of 15 user reviews
Best I have ever seen!
Pros:
Cons:
