Description:
If you find yourself deleting most of the e-mails in your inbox without even reading them, iHateSpam may just be the program you need. Available for users of Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express, this utility is great for personal users, but may not always be appropriate for business use. iHateSpam takes only a few moments to install, but the setup process can be somewhat time-consuming. After installation, iHateSpam mines your Outlook contacts and any folders you choose to look for e-mail addresses you do not consider to be spam. It then creates a "friends" list so all the e-mails you do want to receive will be left untouched by the program. Conversely, iHateSpam also has an "enemies" list to which you can add unwanted e-mails that you receive and the sending addresses will be blocked by iHateSpam. You can also bounce an e-mail back to the sender, which includes a message saying that your addresses is unavailable, thus tricking the sender into deleting your e-mail address from their database. While all of these features seem attractive in theory, we found that the program has some drawbacks in actual use. First, the setup process becomes redundant for the person who uses Outlook for business purposes. It is extremely difficult and time-consuming to manage a friends list when you receive and send e-mails to hundreds of coworkers and associates. Further, creating an enemies list becomes a delicate process as you do not want to inadvertently have a new customer or contact be labeled as an enemy, even though you have not received e-mail from them before. All in all, iHateSpam would most likely work very well for someone who uses Outlook for personal e-mails only and who is merely trying to get rid of the junk so they can keep in touch with their friends and family. But for anyone who is already managing a wide database of contacts, it creates more trouble than it removes. --Kendra Hayden
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