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The Bottom Line
Lyris MailShield Desktop fights spam using an effective scoring system and makes a really helpful anti-spam tool. It doesn't reach the accuracy of a well-trained Bayesian filter, though. Lyris MailShield Desktop is no longer available.
Pros
- MailShield Desktop is an effective spam tool
- Supports POP, IMAP, MAPI and Hotmail accounts
- Lyris MailShield Desktop is easy to use
Cons
- Online spam filter updates would be nice
- Lyris MailShield Desktop lacks adaptive, statistics-based filters
Description
- Lyris MailShield Desktop checks multiple POP, IMAP, MAPI and Hotmail or MSN.com accounts for spam.
- Announces new mail (optionally excluding spam) via sound, pop-up, tray icon and Scroll Lock LED.
- Manually preview full or partial messages (HTML supported) and delete them directly at the server.
- MailShield Desktop detects spam using a smart fuzzy logic scoring system.
- Easy to set up and maintain black and white lists of senders and keywords.
- Spam detection can be fine-tuned using numerous and detailed configuration options.
- SpamCop integration to complain about spam, unwanted mail can be sent to Lyris for filter tweaking.
- Spam can be deleted automatically, bounced back to the sender or forwarded for review.
- MailShield Desktop can work as a POP proxy between email client and mail server.
- Lyris MailShield Desktop supports Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/3/XP.
Guide Review - Lyris MailShield Desktop 3.1 - Spam Filter
Lyris MailShield Desktop uncovers a lot of spam using a fuzzy logic scoring system, but usually leaves legit mail alone.
MailShield Desktop comes with a configuration that works great out of the box, but you can also tweak spam detection settings or submit spam to Lyris for analysis and further filter improvement.
Automatic filter updates via the net would make a nice addition, though, and MailShield Desktop doesn't achieve the accuracy of Bayesian filters. MailShield Desktop can take different actions for different levels of spam points, from marking to deletion and bouncing or forwarding to another email address.
Optionally, MailShield works as a POP proxy, making sure no spam can escape, and it also makes for a nice mail checker supporting POP, IMAP, MAPI and Hotmail accounts.
