Outlook express is an email client that is used by more than 50% of the world and more than 60% of the private business networks all around the world. It is a great piece of software, easy to use and comes in a suit of Microsoft Office applications that are integral to any business and their independent needs. Outlook express also has a built in spam filter, which reroutes junk email away from your inbox and into a specific folder which you can review later, this means that your time is not wasted and you can concentrate on doing your work. This is excellent, a good solution to a problem that is unavoidable in the arena of email messaging. But does this mean that outlook express is the be all and end all of spam filters? Is it the final solution that you need to ensure that your time and valuable money is not wasted going through junk emails all the time?

I would say no for just one reason. While Microsoft is a great centre of technological greatness, and while Bill Gates has built the biggest computing empire there is, no one would come out and say that the business plan of the founders of this giant was to end the problem of email spamming. It wasn't their core competency when they first started and it sure is not right now. What you get is a diluted effort, not a bad one, but not as focused as I would like it to be. You cannot depend on a piece of software that is part of a coalition of softwares (numbering in the hundreds) to be the final solution to a very real, and very specific problem. I am not taking anything away from Outlook Express, and while many say that there are better software out there,

I actually admire it for its quick interface and easy to use layout. It is a general piece of engineering that is applicable to all and can be used anywhere. But for email spam and filters, you have to look elsewhere to augment the capabilities of outlook express. Every day, the methods that hackers and marketers from legal free zone countries are using to distribute the UBE's or UCE's (bulk and commercial emails) are getting more and more advanced, coming to the point where the emails are designed to work around some of the filter code and defences that normal people are using. So what does this mean for you? This means that you can either be left breathless or be left with a good solution to the problem at hand.

You have to get a focused piece of software that is engineered to fight these spam emails. They are called spam blockers and dedicated spam filters, which are independent softwares that augments the capabilities of your email clients. They are the solution to the junk email problem plaguing the digital world today . Outlook express spam filters are frankly not enough – you need to fight fire with fire.