When it comes to P2P file sharing, eMule usually wins hands down but UseNeXT is an interesting, slightly more sophisticated offering which has a lot to offer.

For starters, depending on your connection, it can be remarkably quick. You can download at speeds of up to 25 Mbps with DSL/Cable and it¡s pretty constant rather than the fluctuations you often get with such services. The network also prides itself on security over it's rivals such as Limewire and eMule - with ISPs continually cracking down on users, UseNeXT promises users far more anonymity than most.

The Usenet archives are supposedly some of the biggest in the world - more than 300 Terabytes of data available at all times and they claim that around 2,000 Gigabytes of new files are added daily. The problem in the past was that UseNeXT used to be a very complicated affair that only tech geeks can handle. However, nowadays, it's been simplified to such an extent that eMule, Limewire and other P2P users will feel more than comfortable with it.

While it can't possibly hope to compete with the reach and depth of the major P2P networks, UseNeXT offers an impressive selection with some super fast downloads.

Download UseNeXT 4.81 in Softonic

Believe it or not there was a time when using email was something of a novelty, rather than the routine means of communication it’s become today. If you’re yearning for those halcyon days when emailing was new and exciting then maybe it’s time you found a way to spice up your text life. Incredimail is an email client that allows you to inject a bit of fun into your mail.

The application, which has been around in various forms for some years now, allows you to insert audio and visual elements such as background images, animated pictures or humorous (or at least supposedly humorous) noises. It’s clear from the outset that the program is aimed at the less technical user from the set-up wizard that makes it incredibly easy to register your accounts and import your existing mail from either Outlook or your webmail account.

Once you’ve got the app up and running, you’ll find a truly impressive range of backgrounds, fonts, emoticons and all manner of other bells and whistles that you can browse through and add to your messages effortlessly. There’s also a wealth of downloadable extras you can find on the web should you want to add even more variety to your outgoing mail.

In terms of its basic mail features Incredimail is very similar to Outlook Express, though the junk filtering system is a little difficult to set up, which isn’t really in keeping with the rest of the program. Another interesting touch is the addition of a ‘mail servant,’ which notifies you of new mail even before you’ve opened the client. The default is in the form of an animated butler, although this can be changed if, or should we say when, you become annoyed with him.

There’s no doubt that the program provides an interesting way of making your emails appear more interesting. The trouble is, one person’s idea of fun is another’s vision of tackiness hell, and festooning your messages with all these gimmicks means mail takes longer to download, which is doubly annoying for dial-up users. Although we personally wouldn’t want to subject our friends to animated kisses, jumping clowns or burp sounds, Incredimail certainly provides a novel way of making your emails stand out from the rest.

Download IncrediMail Xe 5.85.3718 in Softonic

So you’ve made the leap and installed the versatile internet browser, Firefox, but are you ready to trade in your Outlook Express for Mozilla’s open source mail application? Thunderbird is Mozilla’s award winning and free solution to manage your mail more efficiently.

Thunderbird woos users thanks to its flurry of options and the benefits of an open source application. Automatic updates ensure that you have the latest version of Thunderbird, preventing any security threats and offering you new features as soon as they’re available.

The biggest worry for users is switching from one mail application to another and losing precious information. With Thunderbird the switch is painless because you can quickly import your mail and contacts from your Outlook and set up your POP3 or IMAP account is a snap. To stay well organized we suggest that you take advantage of Thunderbird’s filters. While this option is nothing new to the experienced Outlook user, you’ll come to see that Thunderbird makes filters much more accessible, thanks to a simple selection of combinations and actions. Create distinct folders for your personal and professional mail and your newsletters and associate them with filters to avoid the hassle of constantly sorting your mail. Another feature we could single out is the integrated spell checker, a blessing if you send many emails and can’t be bothered to constantly verify your writing.

Although it isn’t visible right away, Thunderbird also features an RSS reader. Handy if you need to follow the news or specialist websites, this tool fits seamlessly into Thunderbird and you could almost forget that it is a mail application. Paste in the RSS feed from your favorite news source and the main messages window will reveal a list of all the latest feeds. The message pane is used as an integrated browser window to display the selected article.

Email is the number one source of viruses, that’s why Thunderbird offers various levels of message encryption, a spam filter and support for valid certificates. We found the spam filter particularly effective. Set it to “learn” mode, and it teaches itself to separate the valid email from the rest of the junk. You have to be mindful of this option though, because Thunderbird can become too restrictive and may decide on its own that one of your friends is suddenly persona non grata. Reviewing your junk folder every now and then should avoid you accidentally losing friends. Thunderbird also automatically turns off Javascript and by default does not load remote images, a good way to defuse the risk of viruses from dodgy emails.

Another known feature of the Mozilla line of products is customization. Just as with Firefox, Thunderbird can integrate a slew of extensions and add-ons to rev up your inbox. You can also add or remove icons from the actions pane, selecting the ones you use most frequently.

The one place where Thunderbird fails, and professionals will confirm this, is the failure to integrate Microsoft Exchange support. An essential tool in any work environment, the collaborative messaging software is sorely missed in Thunderbird and seriously limits its usefulness in offices. Furthermore, we can question why Mozilla included an RSS reader yet failed to incorporate a calendar, standard in most mail applications nowadays.

While the lack of proper business minded features will limit Thunderbird’s point in the workplace, the simplicity, customizability and security make it a number one choice for home users. If you’re worried about your safety on the Internet or are just looking for a more efficient way of handling your mail, Thunderbird is probably the best solution out there.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5.0.10 in Softonic

So you’ve taken the leap and installed the versatile internet browser, Firefox, but are you ready to trade in your Outlook Express for Mozilla’s open source mail application? Thunderbird is Mozilla’s award winning and free solution to manage your mail more efficiently.

Thunderbird woos users thanks to its flurry of options and the benefits of an open source application. Automatic updates ensure that you have the latest version of Thunderbird, preventing any security threats and offering you new features as soon as they’re available.

The biggest worry for users is switching from one mail application to another and losing precious information. With Thunderbird the switch is painless because you can quickly import your mail and contacts from your Outlook and set up your POP3 or IMAP account is a snap. To stay well organized we suggest taking advantage of Thunderbird’s filters. While this option is nothing new to the experienced Outlook user, you’ll have to admit that Thunderbird makes filters much more accessible, thanks to a simple selection of combinations and actions. Create distinct folders for your personal and professional mail and your newsletters and associate them with filters to avoid the hassle of constantly sorting your mail. Another feature we could single out is the integrated spell checker, a blessing if you send many emails and can’t be bothered to constantly verify your writing.

Although it isn’t visible right away, Thunderbird also features an RSS reader. Handy if you need to follow the news or specialist websites, this tool fits seamlessly into Thunderbird and you could almost forget that it is a mail application. Paste in the RSS feed from your favorite news source and the main messages window will reveal a list of all the latest feeds. The message pane is used as an integrated browser window to display the selected article.

Email is the number one source of viruses, that’s why Thunderbird offers various levels of message encryption, a spam filter and support for valid certificates. We found the spam filter particularly effective. Set it to “learn” mode, and it teaches itself to separate the valid email from the rest of the junk. You have to be mindful of this option though, because Thunderbird can become too restrictive and may decide on its own that one of your friends is suddenly persona non grata. Reviewing your junk folder every now and then should avoid you accidentally losing friends. Thunderbird also automatically turns off Javascript and by default does not load remote images, a good way to defuse the risk of viruses from dodgy emails.

Another known feature of the Mozilla line of products is customization. Just as with Firefox, Thunderbird can integrate a slew of extensions and add-ons to rev up your inbox. You can also add or remove icons from the actions pane, selecting the ones you use most frequently.

The one place where Thunderbird fails, and professionals will confirm this, is the failure to integrate Microsoft Exchange support. An essential tool in any work environment, the collaborative messaging software is sorely missed in Thunderbird and seriously limits its usefulness in offices. Furthermore, we can question why Mozilla included an RSS reader yet failed to incorporate a calendar, standard in most mail applications nowadays.

While the lack of proper business minded features will limit Thunderbird’s point in the workplace, the simplicity, customizability and security make it a number one choice for home users. If you’re worried about your safety on the Internet or are just looking for a more efficient way of handling your mail, Thunderbird is probably the best solution out there.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird 2.0.0.16 in Softonic

Mail PassView allows you to view detailed information on each of the email accounts you have configured on your system. Mainly, it's used for the recovery of passwords although undoubtedly, some people will use it to crack passwords. The information it reveals includes details such as account name, name and e-mail server type of application you use, user name and password. You can save all this information in a text file or copy it to the Clipboard.

The program supports the most popular email clients such as Outlook Express, Microsoft Outlook 2000 and 2002, IncrediMail, Eudora and Group Mail Free. It also reveals passwords and info for IncrediMail, Eudora, Netscape 6.x/7.x, Mozilla Thunderbird, Group Mail Free, Yahoo! Mail & Hotmail/MSN Live Mail (If the password is saved in the applications.). It can even work for Gmail if the password is saved by the Gmail Notifier application, Google Desktop, or by Google Talk.

If you've lost your passwords or just want to snoop, it's worth a try but very hit and miss in it's effectiveness.

Download Mail PassView 1.44 in Softonic

Have you ever been worried of losing your archive of e-mails? MailStore Server is an alternative way of storing your precious mails.

The program supports multiple clients including those offered by Microsoft and Mozilla. This means it can work with Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail Accounts Exchange, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey mail accounts and those based on the POP3 or IMAP protocols. To set it up, you select the type of customer or mail account you want to use, establish a connection and then instruct MailStore to back it all up. While you are backing up email, you are kept informed of the status via messages delivered to your internet browser and if your files and attachments are too big to be backed up, there's also a compression tool and functions to export and burn your backups. The advantages to all this are several - first of all it provides you with peace of mind that your mail is backed up, it keeps all your e-mail in one place and it also frees up valuable space that may be being taken up on your server. It can also be an invaluable resource in the case of legal disputes to have backed up e-mails as evidence.

If you need a fast and easy way to backup your e-mail from a non web based client, then MailStore Server is as simple as they come.

Download MailStore 2.5.1 in Softonic

Believe it or not there was a time when using email was something of a novelty, rather than the routine means of communication it's become today. If you're yearning for those halcyon days when emailing was new and exciting then maybe it's time you found a way to spice up your text life. Incredimail is an email client that allows you to inject a bit of fun into your mail.

The application, which has been around in various forms for some years now, allows you to insert audio and visual elements such as background images, animated pictures or humorous (or at least supposedly humorous) noises. It's clear from the outset that the program is aimed at the less technical user from the set-up wizard that makes it incredibly easy to register your accounts and import your existing mail from either Outlook or your webmail account.

Once you've got the app up and running, you'll find a truly impressive range of backgrounds, fonts, emoticons and all manner of other bells and whistles that you can browse through and add to your messages effortlessly. There's also a wealth of downloadable extras you can find on the web should you want to add even more variety to your outgoing mail.

In terms of its basic mail features Incredimail is very similar to Outlook Express, though the junk filtering system is a little difficult to set up, which isn't really in keeping with the rest of the program. Another interesting touch is the addition of a 'mail servant,' which notifies you of new mail even before you've opened the client. The default is in the form of an animated butler, although this can be changed if, or should we say when, you become annoyed with him.

There's no doubt that the program provides an interesting way of making your emails appear more interesting. The trouble is, one person's idea of fun is another's vision of tackiness hell, and festooning your messages with all these gimmicks means mail takes longer to download, which is doubly annoying for dial-up users. Although we personally wouldn't want to subject our friends to animated kisses, jumping clowns or burp sounds, Incredimail certainly provides a novel way of making your emails stand out from the rest.

Download IncrediMail Xe 5.70 build 3524 in Softonic

This application is designed to help you rid yourself of annoying spam emails. Once you tell SpamEater Pro where your ISP's mail server is, and your login information, the program will connect with the server, either on a timed basis, or manually, and check the messages on the server for spam, removing any found and, optionally, archiving locally.

There are a number of fully configurable checks that are performed on the messages. These range from checks to see if the message is from one of your defined Approved Senders, a blocked sender, from a blocked country code, or checking to see if the server that delivered the message is in one of any number of internet blacklist databases.

Highlights of the package include:

Powerful filtering

SpamEater Pro includes a powerful and flexible set of filter rules to help block even the most persistent spammers. There's even a user friendly interface for you to enter your own rules to the many that come with SpamEater Pro. You can filter by message subject, header fields, bodies, blocked senders, message sizes, country codes (NEW in v4.0), and more.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

SPF is a means that domain owners can use to tell the rest of the mail servers on the Internet which servers are authorized to send mail for a specific domain. SpamEater Pro can check this, on domains that are using it, to be sure the message is not forged as being from such domains.

Approved senders:

Set up a list of your friends email addresses and SpamEater Pro will always accept their messages. You can even import these addresses from your supported Address Book - from clients such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Netscape, and Eudora.

Real-time internet blacklist support

There are a number of dynamic Blacklists available today on the internet, containing dynamic lists of known spammers, spam-friendly ISPs, dial-up users, open relays, etc. SpamEater Pro can query its set of default databases in real-time and you can add more as desired - there's no limit to the number allowed.

ISP support

SpamEater Pro supports the majority of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) with support for the standard POP3 and SMTP protocols. SpamEater Pro now also supports the secure encrypted SSL versions of these standard protocols with POP3S and SMTPS support.

Flexible scheduled checks

With SpamEater Pro 4.0, you can now set the same or separate schedules for automated checks. With these automated checks, your mailbox should stay free of spam with no effort on your part.

Local message archive

You can tell SpamEater Pro to download a copy of all rejected messages, on an account by account basis, and store them locally for later review. Messages in these archives can then be deleted, copied-n-pasted to SpamCop web form for complaint generation, bounced (NEW in v4.0), or recovered.

Network support

SpamEater Pro supports all network connection types to the internet and any other TCP/IP network. If you can successfully connect to the internet or your TCP/IP networks on your computer, then SpamEater Pro supports your connection.

Download SpamEater Pro 4.1.0.198 in Softonic

Vade Retro for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express filters up to 99% of spam, scam, phishing, spreading virus and bounce messages. The anti-spam toolbar is free and without obligation. The installation only takes a few seconds, then protection against spam will be active right away.

Unwanted messages are moved into folders of their own, for you to browse and/or remove at your convenience. Spam changes, so does the filter, which is constantly updated by the Vade Retro team at GOTO Software. Automatic update of the filter is subscription-based.

Download Vade Retro Antispam 2.37 in Softonic

For all those concerned with the safety of their PC, Bitdefender offer this unique and comprehensive solution, which contains everything you need.

BitDefender Total Security comprises, in addition to an anti-virus program, a firewall, anti-spam, parental control and privacy, a backup utility and an optimizer. With all these tools, your PC will be safe from viruses, hackers, spyware, spam, phishing, and you can protect your children from adult content.

BitDefender antivirus Total Security also provides real-time protection against spyware and other types of malware, including rootkits dangerous. It's particularly effective at blocking spam in Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2003, 2007, Outlook Express, Windows Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird 1.5 and 2.0. There's also a useful "game mode" for gamers which reduces the impact of the program whilst you are playing to avoid affecting the performance of the game as little as possible. All in all, there's not much more you'll need although the free hourly updates do become rather tiresome especially if you have an older machine.

Everything you need in one package - an excellent protection solution for those who want the ultimate solution in one.

Download BitDefender Total Security 2008 11.0.8 in Softonic

There are all sorts of scallywags out there that, given half a chance, would love to snoop on the files on your computer and the emails you send and receive. Luckily though, it's pretty easy to protect yourself, especially if you use cGeep. The app encrypts personal information quickly from the file menu of Windows Explorer using a list of passwords that you enters into the database program.

It has two main functions: to encrypt and decrypt files and emails. Compatibility with Outlook and many other clients, cGeep can send encrypted messages with a single click and receive correspondence equally safely. The utility makes things ultra safe by using a double password system, implementing both a public and private key.

Encrypting files and emails in cGeep can be done with a single click, making this one of the easiest security tools you'll find.

Download cGeep Free 3.0.4a in Softonic

The overall feeling after testing XdN Tweaker is disappointment. As a "tweaker", I expected to have more options –and also more interesting ones- to customize my operating system, and not just being able to remove context menu commands or disable Outlook Express's splash screen.

In spite of the fact that I found most of the included tweaks not really that useful, there are some interesting ones, like the possibility of adding new commands to context menus or the very necessary file association management that enables you to control which program opens what.

On the upside, XdN Tweaker is very easy to use and includes the option to undo all the changes you make.

Download XdN Tweaker! 0.8.8.2 in Softonic

SMTP Finder is a utility that will allow you to quickly find out the mail server address of a particular domain. It's remarkably simple to use and requires nothing more of you than a finger to enter the domain (e.g. softonic.com) before it will go off and retrieve the mail server detils for you, which it does very reliably.

The app has a very small footprint, so it uses very little memory and runs really quickly. It might have been nice if the developers had built in some connectivity with Outlook or Outlook Express, such as the ability to export the SMTP settings to your Outlook mail config. However, it's a nice program that does the job it sets out to with no fuss.

Download SMTP Finder 2.1.0 in Softonic

Macallan Mail Solution is a Freeware Mail Server (SMTP/POP3/IMAP/HTTP/NEWS/SSL) for Microsoft Windows XP™ and Microsoft Windows 2000™ that works with clients such as Microsoft Outlook Express™ or Microsoft Outlook™. It manage local Mails and eMails, incoming eMails from the Internet and outgoing eMails to external mail addresses.

Filtering mechanisms against Spammers using DNSBL (DNS Black List) and your own Keywords Black List / Friend List are included. Mechanisms against Virus can be used with your Anti-Virus. Replies can be sent automatically for those abusing Spams and Virus to providers. SpamAssassin can be used.

Mail Clients software such as Opera, Pegasus Mail, Beonex Communicator, The Bat!, Eudora, Mozilla, Mozilla ThunderBird, are supported by the IMAP protocol developed in the Mail Server. Other mail clients may normally work.

Normally all POP3 Clients should work. PHP is supported thru IMAP functions. Functions as imap_open, imap_listmailbox, imap_headers, imap_fetch_overview, imap_body, imap_fetchbody, imap_close have been partially tested.

Secure Socket Layer is support thru OpenSSL libraries. The local SMTP and the local POP3 accounts are now limited to 32 (previously 10). The number of external accounts collected using the retriever is not limited (except by program capacity). There is no time or features limitation. If you need more accounts send me an email. The program has been tested with 1700 simulated concurrent POP3 users on a Pentium P4 2.4 GHz 512 Mb running Windows NT 2000 Server.

Download Macallan Mail Solution 4.8.16.007 in Softonic

End your spam nightmare and make email enjoyable again by keeping your Inbox free of annoying spam. Our intelligent spam filter for Outlook Express analyzes email so effectively that in many cases it is more accurate than filtering by hand. Easy to use!

Bayesian Spam Filter

Intelligently knows which emails you've received are good and which are spam by using artificial intelligence and server blacklists. Makes sure good emails make it to your Inbox.

Allow/Block List

Decide who and what makes it into your Inbox.

Punish and Report

Get back at spammers by increasing their costs, returning their spam, and reporting them to the servers they came from and the FTC. Email a special password to an unfamiliar sender that they must correctly type in before their email is allowed to your Inbox.

Auto-Delete

Optionally you can just delete spam messages instead of sorting them to a spam folder. You never have to see a spam message again.

Download Spam Bully Outlook Express 4.1.0.6 in Softonic

SlickRun is a free floating command line utility for Windows. The application gives you almost instant access to any program or website. SlickRun allows you to create command aliases (known as MagicWords), so 'C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe' becomes simply 'MAIL'.

Simply enter a web URL into SlickRun and it will launch your browser and navigate to the specified address. You can run multiple programs in a few keystrokes, jot a note, look up a definition. SlickRun provides a very natural way to interact with your computer.

Download SlickRun 3.9.8.3 in Softonic

Schmaili allows you to quickly insert one of 190 animated smiley faces into your mail just by a mouse click. You can use this free version with 190 different smiley faces without a time limit. The Platinum version brings you 1,600 different animated smileys for your mails divided into different folders. A smiley generator, a management for your own smileys and a mail-tracking feature are included. The known mail programs are supported: Outlook XP, 2000, 2003, 2004 Outlook Express, Netscape, AOL, Foxmail, and Eudora.

Download Schmaili 8.41 in Softonic

Many applications, like CuteFTP, CoffeeCup Free FTP, VNC, IncrediMail, Outlook Express, and others, allows you to type a password for using it in the application. The typed password is not displayed on the screen, and instead of the real password, you see a sequence of asterisk ('****') characters. This utility can reveal the passwords stored behind the asterisks in standard password text-boxes.

Asterisk Logger is a successor of AsterWin utility. It reveals the asterisk passwords in the same way as AsterWin utility, but it has some advantages over the previous utility:

• You don't have to press a button in order to reveal the asterisk passwords. Whenever a new window containing a password box is opened, Asterisk Logger automatically reveals the password inside the password-box, and add a record to passwords list in the main window of Asterisk Logger.
• Asterisk Logger displays additional information about the revealed password: The date/time that the password was revealed, the name of the application that contains the revealed password box, and the executable file of the application.
• Asterisk Logger allows you the save the passwords to HTML file and to 3 types of text files.

Download Asterisk Logger 1.02 in Softonic

BSpam blocks unwanted spam mails that infiltrate into your mailbox. BSpam improves productivity. You will find that most spams are easily identified and are removed from your Inbox real-time. BSpam can be installed as a plugin to your existing Outlook Express or Microsoft Outlook.

Features:

• Provides instant spam and phishing protection
• Stops spam without losing legitimate emails
• Leverages the power and accuracy of 1000’s of BSpam community users
• Safe and Maintenance free
• More than 90% accuracy

Download BSpam 2.25 in Softonic

Finally get rid of spam and enjoy a productive e-mailing experience with the SpamScreener free Edition! With SpamScreener Free Edition, you get a state-of-the-art challenge/response (permission-based) spam blocker which provides virtually 100% accuracy, all for free! It’s so easy that even a computer beginner can set it up and enjoy no spam in just one minute! And SpamScreener Free Edition will protect you from opening spam viruses and worms too. This program works with any standard POP3 email account and client. And for your convenience, it automatically configures for Outlook, Outlook Express and Eudora. SpamScreener Free Edition is completely free for personal, educational and non-commercial use.

Download SpamScreener Free 1.0.4 in Softonic