A Useful Eudora Upgrade

Qualcomm's latest e-mail software, Eudora 6.1, is a modest upgrade that isn't worth paying for if you installed version 6 over a year ago.

But if you aren't using version 6 at all, version 6.1 gives you a couple of extra reasons to check out this e-mail client, which has one of the better built-in spam filters around. This version is free if your Eudora license is less than a year old, $40 if your Eudora version is one to two years old, and $50 for owners of even older versions or for customers new to Eudora.

Probably the flashiest new feature is a Statistics tool that produces nifty-looking graphs illustrating how much mail you have received (by day, week, month, or year), how much of it is junk (based on what's in your junk folder), and how those figures stack up against those of the previous day, week, month, or year. The idea is to let you know for sure whether Eudora's spam filter (first introduced in version 6) is doing its job.

This version's new keyword search feature can either launch Google Web searches from within Eudora (your browser quickly launches and displays results) or comb through Eudora messages without Google's assistance.

The previous version added a Content Concentration feature that can make older parts of long, ongoing e-mail conversations disappear partly or completely from view. Version 6.1 is updated so that you can easily change that setting on the fly by means of a small window in the bar that separates the message list from the preview pane.

To woo new users, Eudora has an improved ability to import Outlook info and will now also allow you to import Apple Mail. And if you are careful about filing messages, you'll appreciate the ability to highlight a word or phrase that matches a mailbox name, and to transfer the message into that mailbox with a single click (or choose from a list of several mailboxes if more than one applies).

Qualcomm Eudora 6.1

E-mail client worth getting if you don't already use Eudora 6.
Price when reviewed: Free for recent owners of version 6; $40-$50 upgrade depending on your version
Current prices (if available).