MailWasher Pro Review
 |
MailWasher allows you to block spam messages before it's ever downloaded to your inbox. This sets it apart from most other spam blockers which have to first download the email (spam included) and then filter out the good from the bad. Mailwasher allows you to preview your incoming mail online. It's also a standalone spam filtering application which means it does not integrate directly with your email software. It runs entirely independently of this.
Installation
Mailwasher is a very easy install. Nothing complicated and no spyware or additional product "offers".
Stability
I've used Mailwasher for almost 4 years now and it's one of the most stable applications I've ever had the pleasure of using. This is a breath of fresh air compared to the spam filter which forced me to reinstall Windows 2000 from scratch.
Ease of use
After the initial configuration needed to get Mailwasher Pro up and running you then need to configure it for your e-mail account(s). The following screenshots will give you an idea of just how easy this is to do.
When you start Mailwasher Pro for the first time you'll be presented with the following screen:
From here just click on Add and you'll then be able to setup your POP mail account. Mailwasher also supports Hotmail for all the Hotmail fans out there. After entering some mail accounts details you then simply need to name the account itself - something that allows you to easily identify it from other accounts (if you have 20 odd email addresses like me this is very handy).
Then finally you need to enter POP3 details, provide a username and password for the email account you want to filter, including the SMTP server information. This will enable the fantastic Mailwasher "bounce mail" feature.
To check your email simply launch Mailwasher Pro and click on Check Mail.Mailwasher Pro will now check your accounts for any e-mail. Remember that Mailwasher Pro does not actually download any e-mail it is simply showing you the contents of your Inbox.
Your Inbox choices are Delete, Bounce or Blacklist. When you delete unwanted e-mail Mailwasher will just remove that e-mail from your mail server. For small amounts of spam this works quite well.
Bouncing mail is more interesting because this feature will send a mailer daemon (the e-mail address the spammer tried is unusable) type error message back to whoever sent you the spam in the first place. This leads the spammer to believe that you've cancelled that e-mail account and they'll take you off their bulk mail list and let you live in peace :-)
Blacklisting is even more convenient. When you Blacklist an e-mail address all future e-mail from that address will be automatically deleted without you having to raise a finger. Mailwasher Pro also supports the use of external blacklists (huge lists of known spammers) which makes your life even easier.
The main interface of Mailwasher Pro itself is quite straighforward. You have your options for Check Mail, Stop, Process Mail and Mail Program. There's not much left to the imagination here and it works really well. Less is definitely more with this type of software.
How It Works
Mailwasher Pro is independant of your email program, so it doesn't matter which program you use, be it Eudora, Outlook, Pegasus, etc. It supports both POP3 and IMAP protocols. This means its also compatible with the paid Hotmail/MSN Plus, paid Yahoo Plus and AOL.
MailWasher works by connecting to your email server and displays all messages waiting for you. Using the check boxes, you then select an action whether to delete or bounce the undesired messages and click on process mail. Once processing completes, your email program will automatically launch and you can download the remaining messages as normal.
Customer Support
Support for Mailwasher is available from a dedicated support team who answer all questions within 24 hours regardless of the day of the week. I've only ever had to contact their support team once and the query was answered in fast and very professional way.
Supported Platforms
Works with POP3, IMAP, AOL, paid MSN/Hotmail Premier and paid Yahoo Plus.
Works independantly of email programs, so all clients are supported, including Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Netscape, etc.
System Requirement
Windows 95, 98, NT 4, ME, 2000 or XP
POP3, IMAP, AOL and Hotmail/MSN support
4MB RAM
4MB Hard disk space
Conclusion: Thumbs up to this great software and highly recommended for POP3 or IMAP users.