1. Home
  2. Computing & Technology
  3. Email

InBoxer 2.0 - Outlook Spam Filtering Add-On

About.com Rating 4.5
User Rating No reviews yet Be the first to Write a Review

By , About.com Guide

InBoxer - Outlook Spam Filtering Add-On

InBoxer - Outlook Spam Filtering Add-On

Heinz Tschabitscher
The Bottom Line
InBoxer implements great Bayesian spam filtering in an intelligent and easy to use way. It is a pity that InBoxer is only available for Outlook. If InBoxer could use its engine to categorize good mail, too, that would be great as well.
Pros
  • InBoxer has a high spam detection rate and minimizes lost mail further with a "review" folder
  • Integrating well with Outlook, InBoxer is easy to use and merges with the normal email flow
  • InBoxer uses advanced tokenization for high accuracy plus additional black and white lists
Cons
  • InBoxer only works with Outlook
  • Spam filtering via InBoxer slows down the mail delivery a bit.
  • InBoxer does not organize and prioritize good mail using its engine
Description
  • InBoxer is a spam filtering plug-in for Outlook with support for POP, IMAP, Hotmail and Exchange.
  • Using Bayesian statistics, InBoxer calculates the spam probability of every email.
  • Based on the probability, InBoxer moves mail to either a "blocked" or a "review" folder.
  • Additionally, InBoxer can use whitelists to make sure certain sender's mail is never filtered.
  • InBoxer learns with each filtered message, but you can also teach it with existing mail.
  • Collected statistics can be exported easily from InBoxer and transferred to another computer.
  • Acting as a new mail announcer, InBoxer can play special tunes for specific senders or keywords.
  • You can also use InBoxer as a mail filter that puts good mail in a separate POP account.
  • InBoxer supports Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP and Outlook 2000/2.
Guide Review - InBoxer 2.0 - Outlook Spam Filtering Add-On
InBoxer knocks out spam, at least most of it, most of the time (and getting better over time). Using Bayesian statistics and a clever tokenizer, InBoxer learns not only what spam looks like but also about the good mail you receive and categorizes incoming mail in three folders (your Inbox, a folder for potential spam and one for mail that is sure to be junk) precisely.

Using "Block" and "Keep" buttons, it is easy to correct InBoxer when it makes a mistake. An easily accessible whitelist of senders adds another layer of protection. It is not required to profit from InBoxer, though.

Unfortunately, Outlook is required, but there's a twist to this restriction, too. You can have InBoxer put the good mail it extracted from your mail stream in a separate POP account, ready to be downloaded to a hand-held device or even another email program.

InBoxer can also clean mail in a similar manner before it is synchronized with a BlackBerry. Back in Outlook, you can use InBoxer as a smart new mail announcer that alerts you about good mail only and can play special tunes for special senders (or mail containing certain keywords).

Now if InBoxer put its categorizing skills to use for good mail, too, automatically organizing your Inbox by topic or priority, it could become an all-purpose email filter.

Explore Email
About.com Special Features

Holiday Central

What to eat, where to go, fun things to do and how to save money on the perfect gifts. More >

Family Tech Center

Stay connected and entertained with reviews on tips on the latest HDTVs, cellphones and more. More >

  1. Home
  2. Computing & Technology
  3. Email
  4. Spam Stoppers
  5. Best Spam Filters
  6. Windows Spam Fighting Tools
  7. InBoxer - Outlook Spam Filtering Add-On Review - About Email>

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.