Windows 7 email client

[Trev]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

Windows Live Mail Is more like OE but with some extras. Others are
Thunderbird or other Mozilla base Clients. I tried both and finished with
Live mail for my news reader as I use Outlook for Mail and Organising

 

[Emrys Davies]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

 

[Bruce Hagen]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

OE and Windows Mail haven't been in production since June, 2006 and will
not work in Win7. The closest you can get to OE is Windows Live Mail. It
is not a part of Win7, but some retailers are pre-installing it. If not,
it's a simple download.

Windows Live Mail (Overview & Features):
http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

There are other options such as Thunderbird, etc.

 

[Bob Hatch]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

This subject has been discussed here every few days since the NG
started, so there is a lot of valuable information already posted.

That said, you cannot continue with OE. It is not compatible with Win 7,
period.

As far as Windows Mail, it is not compatible with Win 7, but Windows
Live Mail was written to be compatible with Windows 7, and is as close
to OE as you will get. If you buy a computer today it will "probably"
come with WLM pre-installed. Outlook from Office 2007 is very close to
OE, but does not have NG reader built in.

I've used Outlook for mail for years, and like it. I used OE only for
NG's. Once I was aware that OE was gone, and while I was still using XP,
I experimented with several programs for NG use. I settled on
Thunderbird from Mozilla.

You have lots of choices and my advice would be to try some out while
you're still using the old OS. Win 98 SE? Holy crap.



--
"To announce that there must be no criticism
of the President, or that we are to stand by
the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American public."
Theodore Roosevelt
http://www.bobhatch.com
http://www.tdsrvresort.com

 

[Thip]

I switched over to Windows Live Mail when OE quit working for my Hotmail
account. It's a good alternative. I first used it on XP and it intuitively
imported all my settings. When I moved to 7 Home I backed up all my
settings, imported them to the new installation, and away I went. Pretty
painless.

 

[Canuck57]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

Thunderbird

http://www.mozillamessaging.com

 

[Alex Clayton]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

Windows Live Mail. Free download from MS.
As with the change from OE, to WM in Vista, it's not quite the same, but
it's close enough that I had little trouble learning it with a little help
here.
If you don't like it you can always just try some of the others, but it is
a lot like OE

 

[Bob]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

Windows Live Mail is almost the same as Outlook express but with a few
bonuses

I exported all my mail, accounts and contacts from OE and then imported them
all into Live mail.

When you first import them they first go into a storage folder (I use lots
of folders for individual files) but did not want a duplicate so I copied
and pasted all the mail into new folders I set up in Live mail then deleted
the old folders. The accounts are clever as you only really need to put in
your email address, username and passwords and it fills in all the pop
details. If you have a number of email addresses these can now all be on the
same window including yahoo, Google. hotmail etc. I did not want all my
hotmail contacts to be in the main mail contact list so you can also choose
not to show them. Calendar and News can also be easily accessed. Few other
extras like a spelling and grammar checks is in the program. The forward and
reply setup can be set up in different ways along with a few other extras
but once you are used to Live Mail it is even better than OE.

 

[Bert Coules]

I transferred all my saved messages and mail folders into Live Mail on my
new Win7 PC with no problems at all, and the basic layout can be configured
to match the Outlook Express layout I was used to, so the handover was
really pretty painless.

I don't like the way that mail and newsgroup messages have to be accessed
separately, and I don't understand why the simple command Send/Receive
Messages has been changed to the incomprehensible and uninformative "Sync",
but I've got used to both these changes.

One major fault with the program for me is that it's extremely difficult to
distinguish between new messages and ones that have been read: the diffeence
in the way their headings are displayed is extremely minimal.

The other aspect of Live Mail which I would like to see changed is the
colour scheme: a horrible wishy-washy pastel arrangement which to my eyes
makes the various elements very hard to distinguish from each other. It
can be changed, but only to other wishy-washy pastel arrangements. I'm
hoping that a wider choice of alternatives will become available pretty
soon.

Bert

 

[Bob]

I transferred all my saved messages and mail folders into Live Mail on my
new Win7 PC with no problems at all, and the basic layout can be
configured to match the Outlook Express layout I was used to, so the
handover was really pretty painless.

I don't like the way that mail and newsgroup messages have to be accessed
separately, and I don't understand why the simple command Send/Receive
Messages has been changed to the incomprehensible and uninformative
"Sync", but I've got used to both these changes.

One major fault with the program for me is that it's extremely difficult
to distinguish between new messages and ones that have been read: the
diffeence in the way their headings are displayed is extremely minimal.

The other aspect of Live Mail which I would like to see changed is the
colour scheme: a horrible wishy-washy pastel arrangement which to my eyes
makes the various elements very hard to distinguish from each other. It
can be changed, but only to other wishy-washy pastel arrangements. I'm
hoping that a wider choice of alternatives will become available pretty
soon.

Bert

Hi Bert don't get me wrong I am not anything to do with Microsoft but I
don't really understand this pastel setup. Have you got an old monitor or
something but mine is a very clear black and white. Unread messages are
solid black with a number against their folder which was the same as in OE.
I have mine set up to give a slightly larger font which makes it easier to
read or write. To make the page even sharper go to format and then rich
text>

 

[Emrys Davies]

I transferred all my saved messages and mail folders into Live Mail on my
new Win7 PC with no problems at all, and the basic layout can be configured
to match the Outlook Express layout I was used to, so the handover was
really pretty painless.

I don't like the way that mail and newsgroup messages have to be accessed
separately, and I don't understand why the simple command Send/Receive
Messages has been changed to the incomprehensible and uninformative "Sync",
but I've got used to both these changes.

One major fault with the program for me is that it's extremely difficult to
distinguish between new messages and ones that have been read: the diffeence
in the way their headings are displayed is extremely minimal.

The other aspect of Live Mail which I would like to see changed is the
colour scheme: a horrible wishy-washy pastel arrangement which to my eyes
makes the various elements very hard to distinguish from each other. It
can be changed, but only to other wishy-washy pastel arrangements. I'm
hoping that a wider choice of alternatives will become available pretty
soon.

Bert

Gentlemen, how lucky I was to find this site. Windows Live Mail it will
be and from what I have just read I feel that I am already some way into
its format, although a few hours ago I had not even heard of it because
I have been so wrapped up in OE.

Canuck57: I downloaded "Thunderbird" but when I tried to set it up my
PC said "Illegal Operation" and that was it for the moment.

I am very impressed with all of your contributions and I thank you a
lot.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.

 

[Ophelia]

I have Win98 SE, OE6 and WE6

My ten year old PC is on its way out and I must buy a new one soon. I
accept that I will have one with Windows 7 preinstalled and without it
having an email client. Having used Outlook Express for ten years I
will be very disappointed if I cannot continue with that as my wife and
I understand it and do not want much hassle.

Should OE not be possible, what is the best alternative so that we can
keep things simple and with a format which is close as possible to OE
i.e. sending and receiving emails and Usenet messages and storing same.

I have read about Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail in Google, but I am
in doubt as to their compatibility with Windows 7.

If you decide on an email client for me would you indicate whether it
can be downloaded or best installed at point of purchase. I have done
the necessary backups to an independent media.

Emrys I know just how you feel. My husband gave me a new laptop for
Christmas and of course it has Win7. I hated it and all I could think of
was installing XP which I know and understand. He did look at it but it
seems that this model was not able to do that.

I resolved to give it a fair try. I wasn't happy but it was a present and I
didn't want to upset my husband. With a wee bit help from him, I am using
it fine with just a couple of things I need to sort out. One whole
afternoon was all it took to be reconciled with it

Give it a go Emrys. No one could have been as anti as I. But here I am,
happy with it and I am here hoping to sort out a couple of things. Heh, who
would have thunk it

Good luck

Ophelia

 

[Ophelia]

I switched over to Windows Live Mail when OE quit working for my Hotmail
account. It's a good alternative. I first used it on XP and it
intuitively imported all my settings. When I moved to 7 Home I backed up
all my settings, imported them to the new installation, and away I went.
Pretty painless.

Indeed

https://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

 

[Ophelia]

Hi Bert don't get me wrong I am not anything to do with Microsoft but I
don't really understand this pastel setup. Have you got an old monitor or
something but mine is a very clear black and white. Unread messages are
solid black with a number against their folder which was the same as in
OE. I have mine set up to give a slightly larger font which makes it
easier to read or write. To make the page even sharper go to format and
then rich text>

You can choose between colours and transparent. I have larger fonts too
and find
it easier.

 

[Emrys Davies]

Emrys I know just how you feel. My husband gave me a new laptop for
Christmas and of course it has Win7. I hated it and all I could think of
was installing XP which I know and understand. He did look at it but it
seems that this model was not able to do that.

I resolved to give it a fair try. I wasn't happy but it was a present and I
didn't want to upset my husband. With a wee bit help from him, I am using
it fine with just a couple of things I need to sort out. One whole
afternoon was all it took to be reconciled with it

Give it a go Emrys. No one could have been as anti as I. But here I am,
happy with it and I am here hoping to sort out a couple of things. Heh, who
would have thunk it

Good luck

Ophelia

Thanks Ophelia. Like you I and my wife are starting afresh after ten
years and I am so pleased that I found this site because the answers are
so explicit and helpful. You have given me a lot of confidence knowing
that you sorted it out in an afternoon and hopefully I can do likewise.

Regards,
Emrys.

 

[Bert Coules]

Bob,

Hi Bert don't get me wrong I am not anything to do with Microsoft but I
don't really understand this pastel setup. Have you got an old monitor or
something but mine is a very clear black and white.

Thanks for the reply. No, my montor is a relatively new one and working
perfectly.

Unread messages are solid black with a number against
their folder which was the same as in OE.

It's in the listing of headers in the right-hand pane that I have trouble
distinguishing read messages frm unread ones. There is a difference of
course - unread are emboldened - but the contrast isn't as marked as I'd
like it to be. If the details of a particular message are highlighted, then
the difference pretty much disappears altogether.

I also have a deal of difficulty with the overall design of the program:
when I open a message, the pastel colour schemes make it very hard for me to
see at a glance the boundaries of the new window. I'd like the option -
which Windows itself already has, of course - to thicken the borders and
choose much more contrasting colours. Curiously, if you click the
paintbrush icon in the toolbar and then select More Colo(u)rs there *are*
deeper, richer colours shown - but I can find no way of getting the program
to use them.

And (a final aesthetic nitpick!) why are the top two corners of the Live
Mail windows rounded?

Bert

 

[Bert Coules]

You can choose between colours and transparent.

Thanks for the reply. I've not found that option. Where is it, and what
does it actually affect?

Bert

 

[Lange]

Hi Bert don't get me wrong I am not anything to do with Microsoft but I
don't really understand this pastel setup. Have you got an old monitor
or something but mine is a very clear black and white. Unread messages
are solid black with a number against their folder which was the same as
in OE. I have mine set up to give a slightly larger font which makes it
easier to read or write. To make the page even sharper go to format and
then rich text>

There are quite a few problems with Windows 7 and monitors in general.
And even if you have an old monitor which worked perfectly under XP, why
would it all of a sudden not work perfectly anymore under Windows 7?
There's nothing wrong with the "old" monitor, it's just the way Windows
7 deals with them that creates a problem.
I still use a CRT monitor (IIyama) because i need it to display sharp
images at various resolutions which is simply not possible with a normal
LCD monitor (only if you throw a lot of money at it you can get an LCD
which displays more then it's native resolution sharp).
Windows 7 just refuses to let you use the resolutions you want and
instead forces what it thinks is the best resolution for you. At the
same time, it refuses to even give you the option the use various
refreshrates which are prefectly normal for a CRT monitor (but not for
an LCD). So in fact, Windows 7 just thinks everybody uses an LCD these
days.
In order to get it right, you need to stick to "older" videocard
drivers, create your own custom resolutions and refresh rates (if you
use Windows 7 updated drivers you can forget your custom resolutions and
refresh rate).
LCD's can also suffer from this problem and sometimes it's even
necesarry to tweak the native refreshrate by 0.01 to 1 Hz to make the
image look sharp again.
This, combined with the Aero Themes can give you a fuzzy non sharp look
when using Windows 7 on a CRT monitor. True Type fonts and rich text
will not help if you suffer from this problem.
There are zillions of topics about this problem scattered all over the
internet.

 

[Lange]

Emrys I know just how you feel. My husband gave me a new laptop for
Christmas and of course it has Win7. I hated it and all I could think of
was installing XP which I know and understand. He did look at it but it
seems that this model was not able to do that.

XP can be installed on every laptop, even on the bright shiny new ones,
in both a dual or a single setup. It seems your husband simply does not
know how (not a shame btw). But best is to push on and experiment a bit
with Windows 7 like you did. It's the future, XP is not.

 

[Emrys Davies]

There are quite a few problems with Windows 7 and monitors in general.
And even if you have an old monitor which worked perfectly under XP, why
would it all of a sudden not work perfectly anymore under Windows 7?
There's nothing wrong with the "old" monitor, it's just the way Windows
7 deals with them that creates a problem.
I still use a CRT monitor (IIyama) because i need it to display sharp
images at various resolutions which is simply not possible with a normal
LCD monitor (only if you throw a lot of money at it you can get an LCD
which displays more then it's native resolution sharp).
Windows 7 just refuses to let you use the resolutions you want and
instead forces what it thinks is the best resolution for you. At the
same time, it refuses to even give you the option the use various
refreshrates which are prefectly normal for a CRT monitor (but not for
an LCD). So in fact, Windows 7 just thinks everybody uses an LCD these
days.
In order to get it right, you need to stick to "older" videocard
drivers, create your own custom resolutions and refresh rates (if you
use Windows 7 updated drivers you can forget your custom resolutions and
refresh rate).
LCD's can also suffer from this problem and sometimes it's even
necesarry to tweak the native refreshrate by 0.01 to 1 Hz to make the
image look sharp again.
This, combined with the Aero Themes can give you a fuzzy non sharp look
when using Windows 7 on a CRT monitor. True Type fonts and rich text
will not help if you suffer from this problem.
There are zillions of topics about this problem scattered all over the
internet.

It is appropriate that you should be talking about iiyama monitors. I
have the Vision Master Pro 410 which came with my PC some ten years ago.
The screen is 13" x 91/2". Its depth is 16". Would a new processor
work with this or, in view of its age, do you think that I should start
again. I ask mainly because this monitor was a bit special at the time.
In any case do they sell processors on their own?