The use of Outlook Express

[Markus]

I have noticed that a lot of my fellow techs view Outlook Express as if its the best basic e-mail client ever. This of course is not a view I share. Having used OE for a number a years I feel it is the worst e-mail client out there and would never recommend it to a client or make an attempt at installing it in Windows 7 using Vista file, a process that seems to have become popular.

When I hear a tech setup OE for a client I cringe, much the same way I cringe when a client says they took their PC to Geek Squad.

I would like to hear from the forum their feelings on OE, good or bad, and their recommendations for an e-mail client if they have one.

 

[chrisaroz]

I've never heard of anyone installing Outlook Express in 7. I would imagine those that do it are just using it because it's familiar.

Most of my clients use webmail, but those that want a stand-alone client usually get Windows Live Mail installed.

 

[Packrat1947]

I've never heard of O-E on a Win 7 OS.

O-E is a fine email program. I've always used it, and several of my customers do too. Never any problems. I've never seen anyone allow the folders to get too big. I do caution folks to keep folders in check and compact them occasionally.

It is easy to backup and restore .wab and .dbx s to another computer. It is like Office 2003 - a standard.

By comparison, Outlook puts everything into one .pst file. A little corruption and everything could be lost. Just like .zip files.

The old Eudora kept everything in .txt files. That was nice.

Packrat1947

 

[studiot]

Whilst most users recognise that Windows7 is a step in the right direction.(By comparison most thought Vista a step in the wrong one.)
No one thinks it is all good.

And the thing that most irkes users is when they find OE is no longer available.

I get in the neck because I am generally recommending 7, where I said to many customers
"You can have Vista but you may regret not sticking with XP"
And many did regret the change, just as many have been pleased they remained with XP.

 

[Packrat1947]

The one thing that rankles me is that there is no real/easy upgrade path from O-E to Windows Mail or Windows Live mail.


Packrat1947

 

[Xander]

Whilst most users recognise that Windows7 is a step in the right direction.(By comparison most thought Vista a step in the wrong one.)
No one thinks it is all good.

And the thing that most irks users is when they find OE is no longer available.

I get in the neck because I am generally recommending 7, where I said to many customers
"You can have Vista but you may regret not sticking with XP"
And many did regret the change, just as many have been pleased they remained with XP.

I haven't had a single customer complain about missing OE when Windows Live Mail is the same in almost every way. "Where is the... Oh, there it is." Minor cosmetic differences but not one person has said they wished they still had OE.

The one thing that rankles me is that there is no real/easy upgrade path from O-E to Windows Mail or Windows Live mail.

Other than just installing it? The install itself offers to import your mail, et al. My average grandmother customer can handle that.
Even in system upgrades, I usually install Windows Mail before running the Win7 Easy Transfer and haven't had any complications yet.

 

[Bryce W]

I haven't tried it, but I am pretty sure you can just import an OE database into Mail. As for a client being upset about the lack of OE, I just tell them "Mail is an updated Outlook Express, its pretty much the same, just looks different" and they don't have a problem.

I hate OE with a passion though, it tends to either corrupt emails or delete them. For example, if a client is compacting emails (which OE often asks you to do) and the client stops it before it finishes, it will lose hundreds of emails. While there is a process to get this back, its pretty crappy that this happens in the first place.

 

[iisjman07]

I've never really seen the appeal of Outlook Express, I prefer just Outlook

 

[atlanticjim]

Since I work residential only, I recommend they use web-based mail and access it via the browser.

If they already have OE or Windows mail operating, I change their settings to leave mail on the server when retrieving and teach them how to look at their mail via the browser also.

This provides them with 1. online backup in case of a crash 2. provides remote access to their mail when away from their computer and 3. allows viewing mail from their "primary" computer and from their portable alternately.

Personally, I use Outlook and aggregate my 3 email accounts into one interface. Outlook also provides me with the integration that I want with QuickBooks.

 

[MobileTechie]

I have seen OE get filled up an become unusable until I'd managed to split the folders up.

There is an easy upgrade path from OE to Windows Mail. You just tell Windows Mail where your OE folders are and it imports them. You can do this on the same machine or a different machine.

Windows Mail is fair superior

 

[Xander]

I've never really seen the appeal of Outlook Express, I prefer just Outlook

That's great for you but most of my residential customers just want simple free email and need neither the complications of Outlook nor its expense.

Since I work residential only, I recommend they use web-based mail and access it via the browser.

If they already have OE or Windows mail operating, I change their settings to leave mail on the server when retrieving and teach them how to look at their mail via the browser also.

This provides them with 1. online backup in case of a crash 2. provides remote access to their mail when away from their computer and 3. allows viewing mail from their "primary" computer and from their portable alternately.

I have some smaller, local ISPs that have no webmail options. OE (or other basic POP software like Windows Live Mail) is the only route. I used to move folks over to Thunderbird but found that it's too much of a pain sometime to migrate mail over when so many things will support the more common formats. {sigh}

 

[studiot]

For those who claim WLM has no problems and 100% satisfied users

http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=50965

 

[Xander]

For those who claim WLM has no problems and 100% satisfied users

Who said it had no problems? I said I'd had nobody complaining that they had to upgrade when going to Vista/7. I think that's all anybody's said in its favour. It's an easy (for the end-user) upgrade.

http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?t=50965

"You are not logged in".... sorry, but I don't sign up for other forums just to read someone's rant.

 

[Packrat1947]

Importing the address book is the issue. I'm a typical O-E user. My addessed are divided up into: Classmates, Comp repair, Main Idenity, Archived, etc. When importing into Windows Mail, all are thrown into one big glob.

I haven't tried to import into Live Mail lately, but I know there are hangups there too. I think it will only import the main identity. And yes I've tried the .csv methods too.

Even using outside progs. like Express Assist, results in no joy.

Address books and their structure are very important. I know a businessman who is out on the road as an insurance investigator. He has dozens of catagories.

Packrat1947

 

[Xander]

Some valid points, Packrat. I've been addressing it from my own perspective: 99% residential customers with rarely a Group; and only one, that I can think of offhand, that uses multiple identities.
To that end, I'd argue that you're not a typical OE user, but an advanced user. Most OE users have 'contacts' and nothing else.

Business customers might have more of an issue but, by that measure, they're a lot more likely to be running Outlook than OE. That said, I think every business customer I have runs Outlook over OE. In those cases, there's no importing/translating but just migrating. As for your business customer that needs his categories suppoted, OE doesn't support categories in the first place, so that's a moot point.