Qurb Spam 2.0 is a software program from Qurb, Inc. that helps keep your e-mail client manageable by reducing the dreaded and often overwhelming volume of spam you might have otherwise received from uncaring spammers. This is an anti-spam software program that works with Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, but it does not work with some other E-mail clients, such as Eudora, Eudora Pro or Light, Incredimail or Netscape Mail. I do use Qurb Spam 2.0 with my Yahoo!Mail by accessing it through a POP3 account and it seems to work flawlessly. However, for my other POP3 accounts, it does not screen messages from Hotmail or MSN at this time. It is compatible with AOL, but only works if additional software is installed. They are planning some additional features and support in the future.

A major strength of this program is its ease of use. I really couldn’t believe that was all there was to it after I installed it. In fact, I thought it might not work very well. How wrong I was! It works great by using a very simple process which means you don’t have to learn any special techniques to use it nor do you have to set up any user-defined filters. What it does is integrate itself into the toolbar of Outlook or Outlook Express. From there, you can access any of its features, approving messages that were sent to the quarantined folder or placing a block on a message sender that you no longer want to contact you.

Qurb Spam 2.0 begins to work right away by surveying your e-mail client contact folder and your other E-mail folders for E-mail addresses that you regularly or even occasionally converse with via E-mail. This process is known in the anti-spam industry as making a “Whitelist” or a list of approved addresses and treating all others as unapproved. Qurb handles this by sorting them and at least temporarily placing them in the Quarantined folder. There is no permanent “Blacklist” at this time, but my research into this program revealed that the company intends to add this feature in the future. From then on, Qurb automatically evaluates messages that are sent to you to see if they are from someone on your approved list. If they are, the message is sent directly to your Inbox, but if not, it is then placed in “quarantine” for you to see and evaluate later. You have several options once you receive a message and it is placed in quarantine, you can read it, transfer it back to your Inbox, or leave it there. By default, Qurb keeps messages in quarantine at least 7 days before you can delete them and then deletes these quarantined messages automatically after 30 days. Qurb gets smarter too, because it updates your “Whitelist” every time you use your e-mail client. In other words, if you send a message to a friend or colleague, their address will be placed on the approved list. Furthermore, you can modify your list of approved addresses anytime you want.

Qurb offers an optional “challenge/response system” that will send out a personalized e-mail message requesting confirmation from the sender. If they simply reply to the message, their original message will be added to your inbox and list of approved senders. This feature helps keep automated spam robot messages out of your Outlook Inbox and allows into your Inbox only messages that were sent by real people.

The user interface was concise and clean and I was impressed with its design. The logic of keeping out or eliminating messages from those senders whom you don’t know is remarkably simple but elegant in practice. Since it does not rely on content filtering to keep out spam messages, it actually works better at keeping spam at bay than some other programs I have used in the past. Furthermore, if you are bilingual and utilize more than one language to communicate with others, Qurb will still work for you. Another nice feature is that Qurb utilizes a Quarantine Panel, which displays any newly received messages that are not on the approved senders list and then quarantines them. The Qurb Folder contains all messages that have not been reviewed, messages that have been blocked and messages that were reviewed using the Quarantine Panel but which were not added to the approved senders list. Most often, I use the Quarantine Panel as a way of scanning recently arrived but now quarantined messages. If I see one that I want to come to my Inbox in Outlook, I simply check the box and it is approved. While this does add an extra step or two, it is well worth the time to keep my Inbox cleaner, more functional and spam-free.

The software has a few minimum requirements, including a Windows operating system 98, Me, 2000 or XP. It is supported for use with Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002/XP, Outlook 2003, Outlook Express 5.5, and Outlook Express 6.0. Other E-mail clients may be added in the future but at the time of this writing, those are the current limitations. You may find this software online at Qurb.com and you can download it there. The cost for a single user license is $29.95, while a Work and Home license goes for $39.95 and there is a multiple license purchase with volume discounts offered on 5 or more licenses. According to the web site, 5-9 licenses are discounted 10% and the discount increases on up to 100 or more licenses, which are discounted at 30% per license.