Matterform Media ’s Spamfire 2.3 is one of several spam public-service corporation that act alfresco of your vitamin E - mail node — downloading all your e - ring armor , filtering it , deleting the spam from the host , and leaving only the good hooey for your inbox . It ’s easy to configure , separates spam and sound vitamin E - mail into Definite , Probable , and delimitation groups , and offer flexible rule configuration . But it ’s also on occasion fluid , and like Intego ’s Personal Antispam X4 10.4.2 ( ) , it requires a yearly subscription fee to conserve its database of spammy URLs .
Like other spam utilities , Spamfire offers editable black- and whitelists as part of its sender preference as well as Bayesian filters , which you could reset but not delete . Spamfire’scorpus — the appeal of words the Bayesian filter uses to key junk e-mail — can only be pruned to remove old launching that slack down filtering without improving accuracy . The program also includes a renewable 12 - month subscription ( $ 13 ) to receive update to its URL filters database ( a prospicient list of spam web site ) . Additionally , you may create conditional rules much like those in Apple ’s Mail and Microsoft ’s Entourage — If Body Text Contains Cialis Mark as Spam , for example .
Spamfire includes a Revenge feature article that allow you account junk e-mail and phishing schemes to SpamCrime ( a Web - free-base spam reporting religious service ) , the spammer ’s ISP , the FTC , PayPal , and eBay ( and you could add additional reporting authorities ) . Unlike early versions of the program , Spamfire 2.3 does n’t set about to resile spam back to the transmitter , a proficiency that is not only uneffective but often punishes the innocent and scrap up the Internet with needless dealings .
When you first launch Spamfire , it walks you through a frame-up assistant where you opt your einsteinium - mail client ( Qualcomm ’s Eudora ( ) , Bare Bones Software ’s Mailsmith ( ) , Microsoft Entourage ( ) , Mozilla Thunderbird , Apple Mail ( ) , and CTM Development ’s PowerMail ( ) are all supported ) and consequence addresses from a text file if you like ( Spamfire mechanically adds the contact in Address Book to its whitelist ) . It then pose you with a lean of einsteinium - mail invoice to choose from ( it checks Mail and Entourage ’s druthers for these account ) . It can mechanically spell your dad and IMAP e - postal service options from these programs .
For POP accounts , the program change your e - chain armor account ’s configuration setting so that it work through a local procurator — find pre - filtrate e - ring mail via the Spamfire software rather than now from your ISP . IMAP accounts do n’t wreak through a procurator . Any messages filtered from an IMAP account are re - e - mailed through your SMTP host . Spamfire can distinguish your good and bad mail into Definite , Probable , and Borderline folders , thus making it easier to locate junk e-mail and good ring mail that ’s “ on the edge . ” This is a nice touch and is standardized to what SpamSieve ( ) does by color - twit mail found on its “ spamminess . ”
The program has a mates of obvious flaw . The first is that it offers no preview window pane . alternatively , to view the contents of a message to judge its worth , you must start the message in a separate window . The program is also too quick to delete ring armour from the host . While testing a bit of spam utilities I on purpose left spam substance on my POP and IMAP server and Spamfire deleted them . I could surely forward those substance to myself , but I choose the safety of being able-bodied to leave messages on the server and then delete them when I need to , rather than my spam utility taking that liberty . That ’s one of the reasons I choose program such as C - Command ’s SpamSieve and Intego ’s Personal Antispam ( ) , which work within your e - postal service client .
Lastly , the syllabus seems a little unstable . More than a few time , it did nothing while supposedly retrieve mail , even though the app was n’t technically shut up up . The vendor is currently working on a Universal version of the program and state that this upgrade should also improve reliability .
Macworld’s buying advice
I like how comfortable it is to habituate Spamfire 2.3 and I revalue its power to filter out mail service into subcategories — that does make it easier to split the border message from the definitely good or bad ones . And , if I were calculate for requital , I ’d witness its Revenge lineament helpful . But I ’m a small uncomfortable with the amount of control it has over the mail on my soda water and IMAP servers , I do n’t like having to pay annual subscription fee ( however modest ) , and I bid it were a short more stable . Spamfire will certainly cut down on the amount of junk e-mail you receive , but SpamSieve does the caper more easy and safely .
[ Christopher Breen is a elderly editor atMacworld . ]
