While trolling through anti-spam e-mail filters, I came across iHateSpam, from Sunbelt Software, and decided to look.
In tests, I found that installing iHateSpam is like going to an aerobics class for the first time: awkward and painful. But the results (as in aerobics) are worth the effort.
The hard part was that the thorough wizard for the Microsoft Outlook version of the product that I installed went through all my mail, contacts and appointments looking for potential “friends” who should not be blocked.
To its credit, the product asked me to identify the files I wanted it to look through, but as an analyst, I communicate with a few more people than the average bear, so it took a lo-o-o-ng time for the product to collect names.
Then I had to check which people were really my friends. This was a good thing—the process took me on a long trip down memory lane, and it was with a great deal of satisfaction that I put 76h323378@vole.com on my “enemies” list, along with a motley crew of similarly spamish scoundrels.
I did run into a couple of problems, however. iHateSpam has no manners, and any window the product opens is al- ways on top, even after focus shifts to another window. The first time I tried to use the product after installation, it locked up my Outlook client. After I rebooted my system, iHateSpam worked without a hitch.
For more information, Sunbelt can be reached at www.sunbelt-software.com.