MDaemon Pro 3.0 proves speedy, but not scalable - Solid, low-price mail server adds IMAP4 support and spam blocking.(Software Review)(Evaluation)

IF YOU'RE PLANNING to equip your shop with e-mail, you've got a few options. For around $50 per mailbox, you can sign up for the total e- collaboration experience with Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino/Notes and give users e-mail, group scheduling, conferencing, the works. But if all you need is a commercial-grade e-mail server, groupware is overkill. That $50 per mailbox adds up fast and doesn't cover training and administrative costs.

Another option is to drop a Linux box in the corner of your machine room. Everything you need for e-mail comes with the OS. But with Linux, setting up a commercial-grade suite of mail services requires a lot of time, experimentation, and guru-level knowledge. Beyond a few dozen users, managing a Linux mail server is a pain.

A happy medium between these extremes is MDaemon Pro 3.0, the Windows e-mail server from Deerfield.com. Don't let its cut-rate pricing and homely administrative interface fool you: MDaemon is a proper commercial mail server. With its latest release, Deerfield.com has added several much-needed features including IMAP4 (Internet Messaging Access Protocol 4) client support, Windows domain authentication, and spam blocking.

MDaemon Pro is quick, sturdy, …