Pegasus Mail

Pegasus gets the nod for best third-party Email client. Personally, I use Outlook express and like it, probably 'cause I've used it for many years. A client like Pegasus, however, isn't subject to the viruses and malicious  scripts aimed at OE users. Pegasus is full-featured and, since it has been around longer than any other third-party PC Email system, offers mature. stable in use on Win 9x/ME/2000/XP.

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ICQ

With all the news of security risks and number hijacking (for the lower numbers, mine's seven digits), I hesitated to make a recommendation, but with the knowledge that folks might choose M$N or (worse) AOL, thought I'd best make it clear that this is still, weighing the options and advantages, the best of the instant messengers. I turn mine on and off manually rather than have it take control, but you're welcome to message me during those rare moments that I'm online with it. 1525234.
Any Yahoo Messenger users out there?

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Gphone

Better grab this before it goes away. These really good ones just don't seem to last. Save the exe file just in case. This proggie makes it possible to talk (voice chat) with anyone, anywhere in the world, using only their IP address for contact. Normal (typed) chat is an option as well as file transfer. Registration required. Win98/Me/2000.

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The Cleaner

Here's the number one best way to prevent the 'greater than' symbols (>>) from showing up in Emails. *Don't forward them!* OK, that's not realistic ... I know your gonna do it. At least clean 'em up. This proggie does just that. Copy, paste, one button cleans and pastes the cleaned text back to your clipboard. The jokes you send will still be dumb but you'll look smarter. Works with all Windows.

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MailWasher

Kill spam. There's no elegant solution, but at least this one is simple and easy to use. This proggie lets you choose what to download and will 'bounce' unwanted Email back to the sender, making it look like you address doesn't exist. You can even preview messages without downloading. While this version (screenshot) doesn't support web-based Email (Hotmail, Yahoo), the next one will even do that, so stay tuned. Win 9x/Me/NT/2000/XP.

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