Does Windows Live Mail work for you otherwise? As I understand it, WLM still works the same as Outlook Express, although the interface, (the parts you see), is updated. It has storage folders where you can save drafts, etc.
There are other email clients, eg Mozilla's Thunderbird, (part of the Firefox family), but really the choice is yours, what works best for you.
2] The Ram on vista was runnnig at 40% even when doing nothing, Win 7 is doing the same? Is this normal?
We can't say as all computers and system setups are different. How much RAM does this system have, and what applications get loaded at Startup? What Processes and Services are running in the background?
MSCONFIG will show you what Startup files there are, the Task Manager will show the running Processes, and the Services console will list all the Services.
3] Is it possible to find out if this machine was upgraded from Vista to Win 7 by manufacturer, tho I asked and was told it was not?
I doubt it, but only the documentation and what you ordered, and how, can tell you; eg, If ACER advertised a brand new laptop on their web site with Win 7 pre-installed, then that is what you would get. They risk legal action is they advertise incorrectly.
4] This laptop has something called Tablet PC Input Panel, I played with it abit, but cannot see the reason for this?? I originally thought this was installed on the wrong type of machine Any help?
Yep, I have one of these on my Vista system. I just assumed it was a standard add-on by Microsoft. Looks useful to me. If I ever lose my keyboard whilst logged into Vista, I can access this and still type, in posts like this.
It's weird!
Did you see the other options in the menu bar, icons that look like a tray and a partitioned tray? They allow writing with the mouse and character recognition.
Also, when I clicked the "X" top right to close it down, it just slid off to the left of the screen. I had to pull it back, then go to it's Tools > Exit, to shut it down, but I see it also has options to select how it behaves.
5] In Vista you have the gadget bar on the screen, but not on Win 7, can this be done by a workaround?
If you right click any empty part of the Desktop, do you have a Gadgets option?
This Microsoft site tells more;
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Desktop-gadgets-overview#section_3
This web page details a Workaround to Run Windows Vista Bar Style Sidebar in Windows 7;
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/12/30/workaround-to-run-windows-vista-bar-style-sidebar-in-windows-7/
I hope that helps.
Mark

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