Fresh Outlook Firefox and the Netscape browsers from the Mozilla Foundation have grabbed a lot of attention lately, but no "ditch Microsoft" effort is complete as long as your e-mail is humming through Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express. After all, the Microsoft Outlook siblings are among the most popular targets for virus writers and worm mavens. Malicious attachments and malformed HTML e-mail messages pose a serious vulnerability for many PCs. While no program can match the soup-to-nuts features thrown into the comprehensive Outlook program, you'll be surprised just how close you can get. In many cases you can look forward to easier navigation, snappier performance, and a reasonable set of junk-mail and spam controls. You'll even find a few welcome features Outlook hasn't gotten around to yet--like integrated RSS feeds for keeping tabs on the latest updates to your favorite Web sites. Among the top contenders: Mozilla Thunderbird: Like Firefox, Thunderbird is a brand-new alternative. Flexible and intuitive, version 1.0 is a robust, standalone e-mail program with security and junk-mail management features. Support for threaded e-mail views and a built-in RSS reader make it a very capable e-mail program. Opera M2: This highly integrated e-mail client appears as just another tab in the Opera 7.54 browser program window, but it can take some getting used to. Supports POP3 and IMAP mail, secure certificates, and RSS feeds. It comes with the Opera browser. Netscape Mail: Packaged with the Netscape browser, Netscape Mail 7.2 shares the core Mozilla technology with the Thunderbird e-mail program. Integrated AIM and ICQ chat, as well as AOL and Netscape WebMail accounts, make this program a natural for AOL customers. Qualcomm Eudora: The grand dame of alternative e-mail, Eudora comes in three versions: a free "light" version and two full-featured versions-- either paid for or downloaded free with displayed ads. Both security and IMAP e-mail handling are improved in version 6.2, while a unique ScamWatch feature helps snag phishing scams. Before you jump, be aware that switching e-mail programs can be more complicated than switching browsers. You may need to move e-mail messages and contact data to the new program. This can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Mozilla's Thunderbird, for instance, tried to automatically import all my Outlook information but froze midway. It imported my contacts but failed to bring in my Outlook messages or account settings. The Opera M2 client, meanwhile, will import Outlook Express and Eudora e-mail, but won't read Outlook files. Regardless of the program you choose, budget some time to move your data over. And of course, back up your existing mail and contact data before you do anything.