Eudora’s e-mail software helps users manage their messages

When it comes to e-mail programs, price usually dictates choice. Netscape has a popular e-mail program that has limited features - like sending, receiving and storing messages - but is simple to use and doesn't cost anything. An advanced feature like spam filtering is a staple of my daily life, so I find such programs extremely vexing. Ditto for Microsoft's Outlook Express. Users of Microsoft's Office suite are likely to use the feature-rich, full-version, Outlook, but I've never met anyone who's paid for this software as a stand-alone product. America Online users use AOL's proprietary software. A very popular program, Qualcom's Eudora ( www.eudora.com ), has carved quite a niche for itself by distributing its product for free and charging, by allowing users to decide whether they want to pay or have the program be supported by advertising. The just-released 'Eudora 5' is available in three different modes. In 'light' mode, users pay nothing and get access to a limited-feature version of the software. In 'sponsored' mode, users also pay nothing, but get the full-feature version with one difference: a small, but permanent, advertising window. (Users must fill out a profile with the company to keep the software working, or it will revert to the 'light' mode.) In 'paid' mode, users pay $50 and get the full-featured version without any ads. While there aren't a whole lot of new features from 'Eudora 4,' one of the most noticeable is the 'MoodWatch' option that monitors both incoming and outgoing e-mail. MoodWatch analyzes the language of a message and rates it from zero (no problem) to three (big problem) red chili peppers from its built-in 'flaming dictionary.' It has some artificial intelligence, so simply using a 'naughty' word won't trigger an alert, but combinations will. Monitoring incoming e-mail for unwanted spam makes sense, but I was at first puzzled as to why I would want to monitor my own outgoing mail. Well, monitoring my messages can bring to my attention potentially harsh language that may have been typed in the heat of the moment. Of course, users can disable or ignore this feature. Eudora 5 allows users the option of viewing one's own e-mail use statistics. Also, the software supports some Palm computer-based options. And the address book has been redesigned to include more information. The new feature I liked the most is the way signature, or sig, files are handled. A sig file can be attached to an e-mail message and typically contains information like a name, address and other personal information. Some people include saying and slogans. Eudora 5 allows users the option to edit sig files on the fly, which can come in handy if I want to send part of my sig, but not personal information like a phone number. My biggest annoyance with Eudora is more of a pet peeve than a program fault. When I open a text file to insert into a message, I'm used to right-clicking to select 'copy,' which works in every other Windows program I've ever tried and also works in every other area of Eudora than this one. Instead, I have to manually select the Edit menu and then select the Copy option or the Windows shortcut (Control-C). I admit it's not a big problem, just a minor annoyance. 'Eudora 5' is available for both Windows and Macintosh. Steve Segal is the computer columnist for the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at computer@tribweb.com.