Are you suggesting that Outlook Express users should now switch to Windows Live Mail, as Microsoft recommends? What would I gain and lose? Ian Bradford
People who use Hotmail should now switch to Windows Live Hotmail and, ideally, download the Windows Live Mail desktop client software (get.live.com/wlmail/overview). Windows Live Hotmail is free but supported by adverts, like Gmail. The immediate benefits are 5GB of storage plus 90 days between logins instead of 30 days.
When you set up WLMd, it will auto-configure your existing accounts (POP3 and IMAP) and pick up email from Outlook Express. It will also collect your Live Hotmail, thus providing a vitally important offline backup. You can see and manage multiple accounts down the left-hand pane, and have each set of folders in a different colour.
WLMd's two-way synchronisation with Live Hotmail works very well. You can read and sort your mail into folders offline, and when you go to Live Hotmail in a browser, you'll find the changes have been made to your web-based email. WLMd also has better spam blocking -- you can block whole countries and all mail in unwanted character sets (Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic etc) -- plus a phishing filter. It has decent search (right-click and select Find). It can handle RSS feeds as well as Usenet newsgroups, and it integrates with other Live services such as Messenger, Spaces (blogs) and Photo Gallery. As with Outlook Express, you can still drag or copy one or more emails (.eml files) to the desktop or to a folder, which is handy for instant backups, etc. It still doesn't offer threading. Otherwise, if anything important has gone missing compared with the 2001-vintage Outlook Express 6, I have yet to notice it. The major omission is that WLMd does not support multiple identities, but correctly, different users should log on with different user accounts.
WLMd has a Vista-style look and feel and is the obvious option for Vista users. People who don't use Hotmail -- or don't want access to free Live Hotmail offline -- can still use any mail client they like, including Thunderbird and Outlook Express.
Note: The sentences in italics were cut from the print version, which is often necessary to fit the space. Not a problem for a blog, of course!
