Since the original review was published, Microsoft released Outlook 2003, which includes a spam filtering program. Symantec also released Norton Anti-Spam 1.0 as a standalone product and as part of its Internet Security Suite. Neither matches up to Qurb and Ella, both in terms of accuracy and ease of use.

Qurb, for instance, has better tools to deal with "phishing" (emails that fake an approved email address) while Ella's screening is noticeably more accurate than Microsoft's or Norton's. However, I should note that Microsoft and Norton do give you an option to use them for Ella-type Bayesian filters or Qurb-style whitelisting so in that sense they do have an edge.

To use either with Outlook 2003, click on the "Tools" menu, choose "Options," and on the "Preferences" tab, click the "Junk E-mail" button. Then in the new dialog box, set the protection level to "No Automatic Filtering" on the "Options" tab. Also, on the "Safe Senders," "Safe Recipients," and "Blocked Senders" tabs, use the "Export to file" button to back up any existing lists you may have, and then "Remove" them. You need that additional step to make sure that Outlook doesn't get in the way of your alternative antispam software.

Microsoft Outlook users have gained two effective weapons to battle the onslaught of garbage email: Qurb and Ella.

You will note that I using "garbage email" instead of the usual term, "Spam." In my view the processed meat word describes the overall concept of unsolicited mass emailings. But there are mass mailings and then there are mass mailings.

I would rather not have my email box cluttered up with ads from companies with which I have done business, but I might be willing to live with that. However, the porno, male-organ enhancement, Nigerian scam, dubious loan, cable TV piracy, and other generally obnoxious and offensive material goes way beyond mere annoyance. Hence: "garbage."

Qurb and Ella were both rolled out this spring [2003] and are still evolving. Both showed solid reliability when I tested them, so it is not a case where users do the companies' beta testing for them. However their feature sets are still evolving, so as newer versions are released they may gain additional capabilities.

So much the better, as in their current form they offer extremely effective garbage protection. Unlike earlier generations of Outlook add-ons, Qurb and Ella have very low overhead, resulting in little or no detectable performance reduction in Outlook.

Despite their similar effectiveness, however, Qurb and Ella represent two different strategies in the war against garbage email.

Ella ($29.95)  uses sophisticated mathematical models ("Bayesian filtering") to look at multiple factors in email to assess whether it is garbage or not. When you run setup, a wizard has you select sample emails you wish to characterize as desired email, simple junk, or garbage. It then builds a scanning model and, as you use it subsequently, "learns" refinements. For those of you who care about algorithms and such, look elsewhere; all I care about is that Ella is amazingly accurate.

Another innovative touch is that it separates its quarantine folders into "Spam" (you can choose your own label if you want) or "Newsletters." The later is for low-priority items -- such as mass mailings you might actually want to read -- you do not want cluttering up your main inbox. Very handy. I would hope that this two-tier screening approach becomes an industry standard.

Qurb (also $29.95) on the other hand is "whitelist" software. Basically, it works on the premise that any email from an unknown source is suspect and gets directed to quarantine. Key to such software is the ability to ease your task in building your list of authorized email address. Qurb lets you choose the Outlook folders you wish to scan for addresses and simple buttons let you make on-the-fly decisions on new emails. It also lets the user choose how often Qurb prompts you to check the contents of the quarantine folder. Mail from "Approved Senders" goes through to your Inbox; everything else is dumped into a Qurb folder.

A key advance in Qurb is that it includes "challenge" email capabilities, but they can be turned on or off at the user's discretion. A challenge system spits out a reply to an unknown address asking the sender to identify himself or herself. Actual people can reply while automated mailers can't and many users like this approach. I am not one of them. As a consultant I do not want to be sending "who the heck are you?" emails to potential customers. Thus, finding a whitelist tool that lets you shut off the challenge was a huge plus for me.

Choosing between the two screening approaches is mainly a matter of taste. Qurb carries the risk that on occasion an important email may get shunted to quarantine and you miss it; Ella carries the risk that some garbage will get through the screen. Nothing is perfect. But the two programs have done wonders in getting the garbage out of my inbox.

(c) 2004 Al Gordon.

In addition to his computer interests, Al Gordon is a principal in the Boston-area strategic consulting firm, Mary Fifield Associates, www.maryfifieldassociates.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can reach Al Gordon at:

al@tnpcnewsletter.com