MS Outlook Competitive Comparision

Feature		Disruptor OL	MS Outlook 2000-2002	MS Outlook 2003
Filter
	realtime DNSBLs
	Benefit: detecting unknown typ of spam, automatic, very low bandwidth, no firewall problems, no privacy problem (DNS chains act like ano-proxys)
	Simple Word Filters
	Benefit: ease of use
	Regular Expressions
	Benefit: powerfull options for experienced users
	Bayesian Believe Filter
	Benefit: detecting unknown typs of spam, automatic, no bandwidth usage
	aging Bayesian Believe Filter
	Benefit: adapting to new types of spam, fading out of old types of spam, faster usage than non-aging Bay.
	Score Rating System
	Benefit: powerfull options for experienced users
	Language Filter
	Benefit: ease of use combined with high effect
	Dupe Checking
	Benefit: ease of use
	Blacklist
	Benefit: almost none for most spam, because senders will forge their addresses
	Auto-Update
	Benefit: updates filters. But exposes your privacy and adds bandwidth usage
Address Management
	Auto-Whitelist
	Benefit: reducing the number of false positives to almost zero without any maintenance needs
	Safe Sendes List (new Outlook 2003 feature)
	done by auto-whitelist without the need of user interaction
	Blocked Senders List ("new" Outlook 2003 feature)
	done by blacklist
	Safe Recipients Lists (new Outlook 2003 feature)	via filters
	done by filters
	Wildcards in White- and Blacklists
	Benefit: ease of use, more condensed and failsafe usage
Security
	Message Security	build in	via macros
	Benefit: It is just there, no need to fiddle about.
	Secure Links
	Benefit: Don't destroy the message, just secure the dangerous part.
	only remove clickable dangerous html code
	Benefit: Don't destroy the message, just secure the dangerous part.
	only remove potential dangerous html code
	Benefit: Don't destroy the message, just secure the dangerous part.
	convert RTF and HTML to Text		via macro (not optimized output)
	Benefit: drop danger to zero
Privacy
	Phone home
	Disadvantage: transfered content is unknown, possible exposure of confidential data, might violate corporate rules of behavior
Various
	easy diagnostic
	Benefit: adapting filters in case of false positives or false negatives optimize rate of detection and missdetection
	organize incoming spam
	Benefit: ease of controlling
	delayed deletion of spam
	Benefit: don't lose important mails, review spam items
	easy toolbar
	Benefit: one click is enough, no hazzle with nested menus and lots of dialogs

This is a condensed list of features collected to the best of my knowledge.
Wrong facts? Mail wrongfacts@hlembke.de now!

Outlook 2003 facts are from http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/editions/junkmail.asp, items with are still unclear.

 

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The new Outlook 2003 (as seen on 2003-08-20)

Facts? I don't know. The functions are very unclear, because Microsoft did not release any technical details about it. Only marketing statements. And don't we all believe them?

The statement

Junk E-Mail Filter: Outlook 2003 uses state-of-the-art technology developed by Microsoft Research to evaluate whether a message should be treated as a junk e-mail message based on several factors—such as the time the message was sent and the content and structure of the message. The filter does not single out any particular sender or type of e-mail message. Rather, it uses advanced analysis to determine how likely it is to be thought of by you as a junk e-mail message.

By default, this filter is set to a low setting designed to catch the most obvious junk e-mail messages. Messages caught by the filter are moved to a special Junk E-mail folder, where you can access them later. If you want, you can make the filter more aggressive (perhaps mistakenly catching more legitimate messages), or even set Outlook 2003 to permanently delete junk e-mail messages as they come in.

is more or less cryptic. No existing technologie can be identified. Some parts identify nonsense technologie ("time the message was send") or buzzy marketing bubbles ("content and structure of the message"). There is non statement about how the combination of filters is done. There is no statement about how to adjust the needed filter settings. There is no statement how the 'individual' part works.

"time the message was send": In a global acting environment there is no valid time of sending an email. Russion, American and Indian bussines partners will send messages any time... And even their daytime is irrelevant, I know people working very early in the morning and others very late at night. I have even heard about night shifts or such functions like 'setting the time when a message will be send'. So no working way.

And remember: all message items can be forged. Only thing you could do is to remove messages with 'broken' dates/times (like in the future, too old or simply defect).

"content and structure of the message": where else do you expect to get the knowledge about the type of message come from? Huhuhu...

Other features Microsoft mentions:

Safe Senders List: This is a feature Disruptor OL does automatically without any interaction, without any hazzle, quietly in the background with its auto-Whitelist feature. So manual interaction is a step backward.

The Microsoft idea to treat entire domains as 'white listed' is not very smart. Keep in mind that junk mail senders simply can invent new mail addresses and add your company domain. So it will soon be a usesless feature.

Blocked Senders List: More or less very useless. Junk senders tend to change their sender address every time. So honestly, this feature in Disruptor OL is almost useless, too. It can be used to stop annoying newsletters or auto-advertisments from services you signed up (like from bookshops, auction yards or automated status reports). Blocking entire domains? OK, we don't do business with someone mailing from yahoo.com, don't we?

Safe Recipients Lists: I'm not sure about this feature. It could kill the BCC-function, because you are not mentioned as a receiver in a BCC-message (only your post box is, but that is the box that receives *any* mail you get, so you can't block it.). And if the junk senders grab your mail address from somewhere they *have* your valid recipient address.

AutoUpdate: Something that really looks nice if you read it the first time. But without details it is featureless. As discussed before, getting new 'blocked senders' is quite useless. They probably change faster than you do your updates.

Information about junk messages? Most of these concepts don't work very well because the junk senders individualize junk by adding random parts or using different order of paragraphs.

On the other hand it raises traffic. And I have no idea about the individuality of auto updates. If done reguallary and individualized it might expose your privacy...

And what is 'periodic'? Junk senders have timeframes of two or less days. More active during week ends.

But again: all the details are too unclear to say anything substantial.