Win7 after 2 years of trying an iMac

Outlook Express was the stripped-down free version of Microsoft's POP3 email program (mail is maintained on your HD) that has been discontinued and Microsoft recommended moving to web-based mail with Microsoft Live instead.

Microsoft Outlook is the full blown version of their email program and comes with Microsoft Office. I use hotmail but very few other features of live and I use Microsoft Outlook 2007 for my pop3 email with no issues whatsoever.

There is some talk that web-based mail is less risky virus-wise but personally knowing my mail is under my control and backup is worth more than that risk. If you fail to logon to hotmail every 30 days then your mail may be deleted. I have also seen at least one post where they claim Microsoft has accidentally deleted all their mail (neither has ever happened to me and I can't be sure it wasn't user error in the second situation but I prefer it be within my control).

Windows Live Mail isn't really my cup of tea. I didn't like Outlook Express either, but that's just because it was too...featureless.

I haven't had any major issues with Outlook (the full version, not Live Mail or Express). 2007 was much better than 2003, and 2010 is a huge improvement over 2007. I quite like Outlook 2010 x64 - it's fast, responsive, and has a lot of features. The only thing I wish for is 64-bit 2-way sync with Google's Calendar and email, but that's up to Google, not Microsoft.

In my personal experience Thunderbird is inferior to Outlook, but superior to Outlook Express or Live Mail. On the flip side, if you don't already have Office, and don't need its other programs, then purchasing Outlook just for the purpose of having an email client isn't really worth it IMO - Thunderbird isn't a bad option in that case.

I am one of those odd ducks who prefer a real email client to web-based email solutions. I used webmail for about a year, and my email use dropped about 80%. I am much less likely to respond to people's emails when I have to do it in a clunky webmail interface.

fyi - The version I have is Outlook 2010.