New: IMF Tune 5.0
1. Exchange 2010 SupportIMF Tune v5 was one of the first anti-spam products to support Exchange 2010. It is a known secret that some 3rd party vendors are reluctant to support newer Exchange versions because of the advancements Microsoft is making in their built-in anti-spam functionality. We welcome these advancements, as these further enhance our filtering effectiveness.With the addition of Exchange 2010, IMF Tune v5 supports all Exchange versions from 2003 to 2010. In case of Exchange 2007/2010, IMF Tune supports both Hub and Edge server transport roles. 2. Platform SupportExchange 2010 introduced more scenarios for us to support. This has prompted us to revise the set of platforms to be supported by IMF Tune v5. Here we focused on the main stream scenarios where Exchange 2003, 2007 and 2010 are being employed today.As a result we are discontinuing support for Windows 2000 and Exchange 2007 32-bit. Whereas Microsoft discontinued Windows 2000 support some years ago, Exchange 2007 32-bit is only available for evaluation purposes. Thus we expect the impact of this change to be minimal. IMF Tune v5 is introducing significant changes in a number of areas. This includes platform support changes, new functionality and significant product design changes. 3. New Engine DesignIMF Tune is now better splitting its processing over different processor cores. At the same time IMF Tune gives priority to the assignment of spam ratings (SCLs) over other tasks such as reporting, archiving, auto-replies etc.4. UTF-8 CSV LoggingIMF Tune v5 logs are now encoded in UTF-8. In Version 4, logs were written using the Windows 1252 character set.5. Extensive Attachment Filtering SupportIMF Tune v5 enhances attachment filtering support both through dedicated white/black lists and SCL Rules.In case of Simple and External SCL Rules, we added a new type for identifying Attachments. As for Advanced Rules we have a new condition type. In all, we now have two Advanced Rules condition types for testing attachment names. 6. Improved Import/Export FunctionalityIMF Tune v5 now supports importing and exporting of SCL Rules. In version 4 this functionality was only available for white/black lists.7. Backup/Restore WizardIMF Tune V5 introduces a new configuration backup/restore wizard. The Wizard includes all the functionality that is today provided by the IMFTBak.exe command line tool. The Wizard is more flexible than IMFTBak when handling Restore operations. It is now possible to either perform a full restore or to only restore specific configuration categories. For example you can choose to restore blacklists without overwriting any other settings.8. Microsoft .NET Framework DependenciesIMF Tune v4 includes a number of modules dependent on the Microsoft .NET framework version 1.1. Although this framework is readily available on all supported platforms, we encountered a number of cases where this framework was not functioning correctly. By eliminating these dependencies we are clearing all problems encountered in this area. 9. UpgradingIMF Tune v5 can be installed directly on top of IMF Tune v4.x installations. This allows the installation to convert all configuration settings automatically. Earlier IMF Tune versions can be upgraded by uninstalling the older release and installing version 5 to the same disk location. For a detailed discussion of all possible upgrading/migration scenarios please refer to Upgrading/Migrating to IMF Tune v5.10. LicensingIMF Tune v5 will run in 30 day evaluation mode on first install. Following that, extended evaluation licenses will be provided on request. Please note that IMF Tune v4.x licenses will not work with IMF Tune v5. We provide free upgrade licenses to users that have a valid Maintenance Agreement.IMF Tune v4.2: SBS 2008 Support and NDR Spam FilteringMicrosoft Small Business Server 2008 support, NDR Spam Filtering and a new Installer are the advancements delivered by IMF Tune v4.2. Now that SBS2008 reached final release, we made sure IMF Tune is also ready for this platform. Of course support for Exchange 2003 and SBS2003 is here to stay for many years. But at the same time we are making sure IMF Tune is ready for your next upgrade.The increase in Non-Delivery Report (NDR) Spam and other types of backscatter prompted us to harden our filtering engine in this area. Indeed this is where most of the development work was focused. IMF Tune is now able to apply additional processing to these emails ensuring all available information is employed to identify Spam. LicensingIMF Tune v4.2 is a free update for all IMF Tune v4 users. IMF Tune v4 installations can be upgraded and the license transferred to IMF Tune v4.2. IMF Tune v4.2 Upgrade SupportThe new installer is more robust and is better equipped to identify running processes that need to be stopped for the installation to succeed. IMF Tune now supports direct upgrading from earlier v4.x builds. In the past upgrading IMF Tune required an uninstall-install cycle. The recommended upgrade procedure for users running earlier v4.x builds now changes. Upgrading simply involves running the v4.2 installer on top of the current installation. In this manner, IMF Tune will automatically make sure to retain the original installation path and the current configuration settings. Announcing IMF Tune v4.1We are excited to announce the release of IMF Tune v4.1, packed with new functionality.
1. Blocking of Foreign SpamIMF Tune v4.1 now has a blacklist dedicated to blocking emails by character set. The configuration is as simple as the users selecting the languages they would like to block. You just tick the languages. IMF Tune will then block emails using character set encodings typical of these languages. 2. External SCL RulesExternal SCL Rules provide a very powerful method for managing and sharing whitelists, blacklists and other rule types. The interface is very similar to that of Simple SCL Rules. However these rules will pull the list of keywords, addresses or IPs to be tested against incoming emails, from external files. For example, we can now have an external text file listing all IPs to be blocked. Using an External Rule, we instruct IMF Tune to periodically fetch this file and enforce these as a blacklist. External files are processed periodically based on the configured Schedule. We support two types of schedule configuration interfaces: fixed and custom. The interface provides plenty of flexibility. We can setup an External SCL Rule against any standard or custom header, email bodies, sender/recipient addresses or IPs. Through these rules we can choose to whitelist/blacklist emails, set the SCL to any fixed value, or to apply an increment/decrement to the current SCL rating. External Rules support a very simple file format. The file must contain each keyword/address/IP to be enforced in a separate line. Of course depending on the type of rule being setup, file entries will also have additional format requirements. For example, an IP rule will expect to find entries in the format xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx and xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (mmm.mmm.mmm.mmm). A rule being applied against sender or recipient addresses will expect address in the format something@something, *@something or *@*.something. Likewise a rule applied to an email header or body supports the usual expression syntax including the use of AND OR NOT operators and double quotes. The file format is identical to that supported by the white/black list import/export functionality. So it can be useful to export your current lists to see what the file looks like and build on that. 3. External SCL Rules UNC Path SupportThe support for UNC paths will be so popular with some of you that it deserved to be highlighted in a separate point. If running IMF Tune on more than one machine, you can just put the keyword files on a shared drive. At IMF Tune we then configure External Rules to pull the keywords from this central file. In many cases this eliminates the need to replicate configuration settings from one machine to another. 4. Advanced SCL Rules Description PaneIMF Tune v4.1 now adds a description pane for the Advanced SCL Rules list. This allows us to review the rule without having to open it within the wizard. 5. Support for Accented CharactersThe previous versions of IMF Tune only supported the use of the standard US ASCII characters when entering values at the various white/black lists and SCL Rules. IMF Tune v4.1 now supports the entire Windows 1252 character set allowing the use of accented characters required in languages such as French and German. 6. HTML Keywords Report in UTF-8The HTML Keyword report is now using UTF-8 encoding. If the necessary fonts are installed, the report will show the correct information extracted from the original email as well as characters from non-US/Western European languages. LicensingIMF Tune v4.1 is a free update for all IMF Tune v4.0 users. IMF Tune v4.0 installations can be upgraded and the license transferred to IMF Tune v4.1. UpgradesUpgrading to IMF Tune v4.1 may involve an in-place upgrade or a move to new server hardware. This is especially true since IMF Tune v4.1 supports both Exchange 2003 and 2007. Exchange 2007 requires a migration to a 64-bit platform. In this case IMF Tune would also need to be upgraded. For complete details on all possible upgrade scenarios check Upgrade to IMF Tune v4. Version InformationThis information applies to IMF Tune v4.1 build number 4.1.008.06. If IMF Tune is already installed you can verify the current build number from the configuration. In earlier IMF Tune versions the build number was available under the WinDeveloper category. In later releases the build is available under the Miscellaneous category. IMF Tune v4.0 FeaturesThe following is the list of IMF Tune v4.0 improvements over IMF Tune v3.0.
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IMF Tune v5 is introducing significant changes in a number of areas. This includes Exchange 2010 support, platform support changes, new functionality and significant product design changes.