Explore Alternative Programs for E-mail Messages.

Byline: Doug Bedell

Aug. 21--Microsoft's Outlook and Outlook Express e-mail programs have a lot going for them.

They come free with Microsoft Office or bundled with your operating system. They're familiar and comfortable to workers who toil on corporate networks. Generally, they perform tasks with dexterity.

Unfortunately, they are also a security nightmare.

Like this week's Sobig.f worm, most computer viruses and worms invade home computers through e-mail tricks designed to attack the world's two most popular e-mail programs.

It is hard enough to keep Windows patches up to date, and plugging holes in Outlook every few weeks is a hassle.

For that reason, some users might consider a switch.

Currently, more than 90 e-mail programs are available at Download.com. And those don't include browser-based e-mail clients such as Netscape Messenger or Opera's M2, which comes packaged with its new 7.0 release for Windows.

But over the years, some obvious alternatives have emerged.

Even so, the most popular of these programs -- Qualcomm's Eudora (www.eudora.com) -- has penetrated a mere 5 percent of the market.

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