The Bottom Line
Pros
- BullGuard Spamfilter filters junk mail quite effectively without much maintenance
- Integration with Outlook, Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird makes BullGuard easy to use
Cons
- BullGuard Spamfilter does not work as a proxy or standalone application with any email program
- IMAP accounts are not filtered even in supported email programs
Description
- BullGuard Spamfilter filters junk mail in Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.
- Incoming spam from POP accounts is automatically filed to a junk mail folder.
- BullGuard Spamfilter uses its user community and rules-based filtering to identify spam.
- Convenient "This is spam" and "This is not spam" buttons let you correct errors and report junk.
- BullGuard Spamfilter includes white and black lists to allow and disallow certain senders.
- The white list can be filled with address book contacts and addresses from sent mail easily.
- BullGuard Spamfilter watches outgoing mail for new contacts and can white-list Cc: recipients of good mail you get, too.
- BullGuard Spamfilter supports Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/Vista.
Guide Review - BullGuard Spamfilter 8.0 - Free Spam Filter
BullGuard does include a junk mail filter also available unbundled. BullGuard Spamfilter does not come with much description or prescription, but not much is needed either: if you use Outlook, Windows Mail, Outlook Express or Mozilla Thunderbird, you're set to go. Unfortunately, BullGuard Spamfilter does not work with other email programs, and it does not filter anything but POP accounts in those supported.
After you have chosen your email program, BullGuard Spamfilter starts moving junk mail out of your way. Using "This is spam" and "This is not spam" buttons, you can correct BullGuard Spamfilter's errors easily. For spam not caught, that might be necessary quite regularly.
BullGuard Spamfilter uses both a community filter (messages very similar to what others have marked as spam are identified as junk) and a heuristic method to spot what spam might remain. Fortunately, BullGuard Spamfilter produces few false positives — good mail inadvertently marked as spam.
To further decrease the number of desired emails caught, BullGuard Spamfilter comes with a white list which it diligently tries to keep up to date, too: BullGuard Spamfilter can automatically white-list everybody you mail, and people appearing in the Cc: line of good mail you get, too. Of course, you can easily import addresses from your email program's address book and previously sent mail.
All in all, BullGuard Spamfilter is a straight-forward and quite effective spam filter — as far as its support reaches.
