The Bat! 3.95

I've used RIT Labs products since the days of DOS Navigator (a well-known DOS file manager). The Bat! is maybe their best known product. This email client simplifies the task of checking email by providing the user with tons of useful features.

Most importantly it's able to filter email and detect spam using the Bayesian filter plug-in, check multiple mailboxes, search through existing messages, and preview messages on the server. You can also use the program to connect to Microsoft Exchange servers via MAPI (Messaging Application Programming Interface) protocol.

The feature which enables you to only download the header of each email is called Message Dispatcher. After you get all the headers you can choose which emails you want to download. It's very useful to be able to preview emails, because this can save a lot of bandwidth. The mails can be organized into virtual folders in order to know at all times where to search for them in case you are working in a very busy environment.

The Bat! supports over 25 languages. It also has dictionaries for Although its user interface is skinnable, choosing a different skin doesn't make much difference. Only the background of the menus and of the buttons on the toolbars changes with each skin. A cool feature that's also worth mentioning here is the "Mail ticker", a small window which scrolls information about your unread emails. You can adjust this window's transparency level, its color and its scrolling speed. It's also possible to set it to always stay on top of other windows.

The program contains a notepad called "SmartBat", which can be used to store important text information. The Bat! also features a powerful scheduler which can sound alarms, send email, open documents, start programs, perform email maintenance, and more. Other features include email exporting and importing, a phone book, and email templates.

Pluses: The program can be used without any problems by a novice user. New email accounts can be added by using an integrated wizard so it's not too hard to get started using this software. If you open the Preferences window, you have access to a lot of extra features. The program also provides the option to back-up regularly your emails. You can encrypt the massage base and address book on the fly. The encrypted data can be be secured using a password or USB tokens. You can perform scheduled backups of your email. Emails can be exported in MSG or EML format or to a UNIX mailbox. Messages can be also imported from almost every known email client.

Drawbacks / flaws:

In conclusion: I will definitely keep this software and I will tell all my friends about it. If you need a fully-featured email client I suggest you try The Bat!.

version reviewed: 3.99.3