Our featured download of the week is an anti-spam program which can be downloaded for free for a 30-day trial. This is a shareware product that plugs into Microsoft's Outlook e-mail client. When e-mail arrives in your inbox -- or any of the folders into which you route your mail -- SpamNet compares it with a database of known spam. If it matches something in the database, the suspect e-mail is moved to a folder marked Spam.
If a piece of junk e-mail does get through, you can send it to the database at the click of a button. The more people who sign up for and use SpamNet, the more accurate it gets. Its developer, Cloudmark, says the software has 400,000 users.
You see, SpamNet has a major drawback -- it only works with Outlook, Microsoft's bloated corporate e-mail program. And not with other email programs.
However, with SpamNet plugged into Outlook, it's now the more effective software for battling spam. I probably get between 100 and 200 pieces of spam a day. With SpamNet, I may see five to 10.
You can download a 30-day free trial from www.cloudmark.com.  If you like it enough to pay for it, it will cost you $3.99 a month per machine. Those who were beta testers pay $1.99 a month, and can refer other users who will get the same reduced rate.