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Top 13 Windows Spam Filters

From Heinz Tschabitscher,
Your Guide to Email.
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Of the 94 emails you got today, 92 were spam? The most-hit key when using your email program is 'Del'? Anti-spam tools are here to help. They wade through all the emails you receive and sort out all the unwanted ones before they reach your email program's Inbox. Here are my picks for Windows users.

1. POPFile - Spam Filter

POPFile is a powerful and flexible email classification POP and NNTP proxy that you can use to filter spam efficiently and categorize good mail automatically. Unfortunately, POPFile can grow a bit heavy on memory and cpu load if you have trained on lots of mail.

2. eXpurgate - Spam Filter

eXpurgate - Free Spam Filtering Service
Heinz Tschabitscher
eXpurgate is an effortless but highly effective spam (and virus) filtering service. Its only real shortcoming is that eXpurgate relies on forwarding and requires two different email accounts.

3. SpamPal - Spam Filter

SpamPal - Free Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
SpamPal makes it easy to use spam blacklists with any email account. Bayesian and scoring filters add further spam protection.

4. MailWasher Pro - Spam Filter

MailWasher Pro - Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
MailWasher Pro is a highly competent, usable, secure and time-saving spam filtering tool. Combining multiple approaches, MailWasher Pro achieves a solid spam detection rate and protects you from viruses to some extent, too. Still, MailWasher Pro could be a little bit more comfortable by integrating with email programs better.

5. Spamihilator - Spam Filter

Spamihilator - Free Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
Spamihilator is a pretty, easy to use anti-spam tool that works with any email client and, thanks to Bayesian filters, has a good detection rate.

6. K9 - Spam Filter

K9 - Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
K9 is a wonderfully precise, easy to use and fast learning Bayesian spam filtering tool. It's a pity this gem only works with POP accounts and lacks remote administration.

7. Cactus Spam Filter - Spam Filter

Cactus Spam Filter - Free Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
Cactus Spam Filter is a really easy to use and pretty precise spam filter. It's a pity it only works with POP accounts and does not leverage its power for further pre-sorting the good mail.

8. Spam Bully - Spam Filter

Spam Bully - Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
Spam Bully is a great and efficient anti-spam tool. If you train it well, Spam Bully can rid your Inbox of unwanted emails almost completely.

9. Spamato - Spam Filter

Spamato - Free Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
Spamato filters POP and IMAP accounts for spam with the potential for high precision and plug-ins that make it easy to use in Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird. Unfortunately, Spamato can be a bit overwhelming with its multitude of options and little help.

10. SpamExperts Desktop - Spam Filter

SpamExperts Desktop - Free Spam Filter
Heinz Tschabitscher
SpamExperts Desktop identifies and eliminates spam precisely and, thanks to its plugging right into the email transport, works without configuration with any email program and just about any email account.
It's a pity SpamExperts Desktop is a tad slow to process mail (though that can be countered by having it download mail periodically), and the process that lets you correct the filter's errors could be improved.
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