Plaxo 2.0

Plaxo is from the co-creator of Napster, and is designed for use with Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002/XP and Outlook Express 5.0 or above. It automatically updates your address book when any fellow Plaxo user changes their contact details.

The first step is to select the contacts you wish to request updates from. An email is then sent to these contacts requesting any new contact details they may have (this email can also include your contact details if you wish).

When a contact replies, any new details they've sent are automatically added to your Outlook.

If any of these people then download and install Plaxo, any future changes to your contact details or theirs are updated automatically.

In other words, Plaxo is a peer-to-peer network, just like Napster was. Obviously, you need to be online in order for any updates to be made.

Disappointingly, Plaxo only works with Outlook and Outlook Express, and initial plans to make it compatible with other mail clients including Lotus Notes, Mozilla (Netscape) and Eudora seem to have been forgotten.

If you don't use Outlook products, you can always make use of the online version.