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General discussion

OE & window7

Dec 13, 2009 7:04AM PST

Hello All:

I have been using OE, Outlook Express, for many years to handle my emails. I just bought a new HP laptop, The OS of it is window7 home premium. I want to downgrade it to XP, but no way to do that. I have to use the window7.

In window7, there is no OE! What is the way for me to be able to still use OE in window7? --Zhao

Discussion is locked

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Replaced by Window Live Mail, I think
Dec 13, 2009 8:01AM PST

I suppose you could buy Office and use Outlook but that wouldn't be free. Sorry but OE had too many folks using it to deliver toxic mail and maybe why MS did away with it. I use Thunderbird. It's free and works well but that might not be what you want to hear.

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You can't
Dec 13, 2009 8:37AM PST

You can't, and this is actually a good thing. Outlook Express, and its big brother Outlook, have been the bane of email server admins since they sprang forth from whatever festering pustule they gestated in at Microsoft.

When they weren't busy making it mind numbingly simple to spread viruses and worms via email, they were making it mind numbingly easy for spammers, phishers, and other scam artists on the Internet to take advantage of unwitting victims like yourself no doubt.

Considering there are dozens, if not hundreds, of email clients out there, surely there is another one out there you would like. Thunderbird is one of many options, and also my email client of choice. But take a look around, try as many as you like, and then settle on the one you like best.

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how about window 7
Jul 12, 2010 5:13PM PDT
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OE to Win 7
Dec 13, 2009 11:55AM PST
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Migrate to Thunderbird or MS Oulook
Dec 14, 2009 2:29AM PST

i think Thunderbird(nw version 3.0) would be a better choice than outlook express or try using Microsoft Outlook 07 or 2010 beta..

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Windows Live Mail
Dec 18, 2009 1:44AM PST
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Outlook Express Updated
Dec 18, 2009 9:25AM PST

MS discontinued Outlook Express after Windows XP. The reason was far too many loop holes and vulnerabilites for MS to patch over and over again. There was no permanent fix against all the junk and malware that came with the messages and disabled Outlook.

In Vista, MS bundled Windows Mail application which is an alternative to Outlook Express. It came with it so its a free app.

In Windows 7, MS took out windows mail in order to make the OS less bulky. So the people who want it can download it in package called Windows Live Essentials. The same thing happened with Photo Gallery as well.

If you want the old feel of Outlook Express, then sorry, its outdated. The new solution it to is Windows Mail app which is free to download if you don't see it on your system.

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Outlook is better than outlook express
Dec 18, 2009 9:26AM PST

You can buy outlook as a stand alone product, and it is totally worth it. There are so much capabilities with outlook which make it much more than a mail manager. it has more ability and power in my humble opinion than even ACT Does - one just has to unleash it's power.

I suggest making the investment and protect your data..

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And there's the rub
Dec 18, 2009 10:38AM PST

"I suggest making the investment and protect your data.."

And there's the rub. Such is pretty much impossible when using Outlook. Microsoft still really has yet to get its head wrapped around the idea of secure software design. It's inching ever closer all the time, but the only two really successful products Microsoft has (Windows and Office) are always the absolute last to benefit for fear of rocking the boat. If Microsoft lost either the Windows or Office franchise they have going, which is basically giving them license to print money, they may well go out of business in pretty short order.

So you can't really protect your data using Outlook. It's hard enough with any email client, but Outlook makes heavy use of Internet Explorer, and while Internet Explorer has been improving the last couple of versions, it's still far too prone to all kinds of malware and other attacks. It's still the ONLY browser out there with ANY kind of real malware problem. Other browsers might have the odd rogue extension here or there, but nothing even coming close to the scale of Internet Explorer. So, tying that into your email program, and then making a number of other questionable decisions (how many times did a Melissa worm variant have to hit Outlook and Outlook Express before Microsoft decided to disable scripting in messages by default... think it was like 3 or 4 separate worms, which were all just trivial little changes to the original).

At the rate Microsoft is going, maybe by 2020 they'll have a truly secure product. Until then, I'd strongly recommend people stay far away from any product with "Outlook" in it's name from Microsoft.

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There is no mail function in Window7
Dec 18, 2009 11:27AM PST

There is no mail function in Window 7 Home Premium, no outlook express, no Windows mail that was available in Vista.

Mistake by M$!

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Not really
Dec 18, 2009 12:57PM PST

Not really. They're trying to ape Google with this "cloud computing" nonsense. It's just a new twist on the dumb terminal of the 70s. They see Google practically printing money by selling ads on all these various services, and they want in on the action too. Never mind that Google is a company of engineers, and Microsoft is a company of middle managers, so Google attracts people by building competent things, and Microsoft fails miserably trying to shamelessly copy them.

But by not including any kind of email program, Microsoft also avoids a lot of unwanted legal scrutiny from the US and EU. Korea and Japan have also been taking notice of some of Microsoft's behaviors of late.

Microsoft may be run by a bunch of middle management types, but that doesn't mean they're stupid.

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Well, THAT sucks!
Dec 18, 2009 2:38PM PST

If I wanted an online web account, I'd use my "junk" mail account... no 'Windows Live' for me, thank you very much. Bu-bye Windows-7!

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Windows Live is not a web mail account
Dec 18, 2009 4:39PM PST

Windows Live Mail installs on your computer, it is very much like Windows Mail with a few improvements, you don't have to use it for a junk mail account, you use it like you would Outlook Express, Thunderbird etc. It's a local install and works with your current IMAP or POP3 email accounts. At work I use it because I can print one page or on front and back of a sheet of paper, Outlook has never given me that option with out hoop jumping. I like the lay out fine and the search works well enough. The bosses use Outlook because that is what they have become familiar with and don't like change but complain when it prints out an 8 page email and they only wanted the first few paragraphs. I like the Essentials pack because I also use Windows Live Gallery to manage my photos. The problem here maybe MS's choice of names they should of named it Windows Mail 2 to avoid confusion to it sounding like cloud computing.

Is it just me or do people complain when they have no choice and also complain when they do?

As a side note - if you purchase a new system the OEM's are including Live Mail pre-installed.

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Some people
Dec 18, 2009 11:16PM PST

Some people are simply not happy unless they have SOMETHING to complain about. And in the event there is nothing to complain about, they will manufacture something to complain about. They will find some trivial little thing, like the lack of an email client, and then blow it waaaaaaaaay out of proportion.

At most, the lack of a preinstalled email client is a minor inconvenience. You just go and download one of literally DOZENS of options that exist out there. Thunderbird, Windows Mail Live, etc.

I do have to say though, that Thunderbird developers have really learned from Google's example, and utilized the power of search in the new version. If you have hundreds, or even thousands of emails, spread across multiple accounts, and you need to find some specific email... Thunderbird 3.0 makes that incredibly easy. I made travel plans for the holidays a couple months ago, and now instead of having to scroll through each message in an account, I can just type in a few key letters or words into the search bar, it gives me a bunch of results, and options for narrowing the search even more off to the side. Search results come up in a new tab, so it doesn't disrupt anything else I'm doing... Takes a little retraining, but the payoff is pretty big. It's also nice knowing that I could decide tomorrow to run out and get a Mac or install Linux, and I could use the same email client on either platform.

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No Thank You
Dec 24, 2009 2:08AM PST

I had crappy Windows Live Mail for a while, what a joke. It is nothing like Outlook or Express and fails miserably to work if you install more than one email account. I uninstalled and it and it will never return on any computer I will ever own. I'd rather just go to the online accounts to view my email. Microsoft, what a joke.

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You may be pleasantly surprised...
Dec 21, 2009 7:42AM PST
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What about windows mail (in vista)?
Dec 19, 2009 1:54AM PST

This works as well as oe and I suspect the real reason it was not continued is that Windows live carries adverts - why no one mentions this proves how used we have become to this intrusion everywhere.

I Pay for SMTP mail,I shall use it.
An inbox should be ad free, come on!

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Windows Live Mail Adverts - where are they?
Dec 19, 2009 2:16AM PST

I use Windows Live Mail and do not have any adverts in it anywhere, it is a free light weight email program that you use from your computer not from online. I use Windows Live Mail at work and have never seen any adverts in it.

I think people are getting confused between the online version and the one you download onto your computer and use like any other email program. Hotmail (now called Windows Live Mail Online) does have adverts but it is a free online email like Google, AIM, Yahoo which also have adverts.

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Please do not confuse the two
Dec 19, 2009 5:19AM PST

People please do not confuse the two types of mail services offered by Microsoft.

Windows Mail (part of Windows Live Essentials package) is a downloadable mail application that you link your email accounts to and you can replace Outlook Express in XP, Windows Mail in Vista and add Windows Mail in Windows 7.

Windows Live Mail (or Hotmail as its known), is an online service that is a free email service. It also works with Windows Mail application on your system.

This is the difference between the two.

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Confusing the Two Plus Additional Info
Dec 19, 2009 6:47AM PST

After researching this myself (I've been using OE forever, and am on XP), this is what I've found: Windows Mail *cannot* be downloaded OR run on XP; it was available only on Vista. Windows Mail is *not* available as part of the Windows Live Essentials package, but Windows Live Mail is. See this site for further info and a tutorial: http://www.freeemailtutorials.com/vistaWindowsMail/windowsMailForWindowsXP.php.

Windows Live Mail is *not* Hotmail: "Windows Live Mail is an email program that you install on your computer. It allows you to send and receive messages from one email account or from multiple accounts with different email services, including Hotmail.

Windows Live Hotmail is web-based, so you must have an Internet connection to send and receive messages. Hotmail normally runs in Windows Internet Explorer or another supported web browser and keeps your messages stored on a Hotmail server. But you do have the option of checking your Hotmail messages in Windows Live Mail, which stores messages on your PC." (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/so-long-outlook-express)

Hope this clarifies things. OE 6 is the last ever version of Outlook Express.

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OE & Windows 7
Dec 21, 2009 8:09AM PST

Okay so I forgot to put live in their.

Also, I do not need a tutorial to know what a program does. In this case I have windows live mail running on my XP machine, how did I do that?

Everything's possible. The word impossible itself says i m possible.

I had specifically said Windows Live Mail (as its known as Hotmail).

I also said Windows Mail is an application on vista and you probably don't know why MS removed it from windows 7....unless if you read my post. Windows Mail and Windows Live mail are the same thing now.

Windows Live mail is a replacement to outlook express and windows live hotmail (also known as live mail around the redmond campus) is the online service.