Windows Mail

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Windows Mail A component of Microsoft Windows

Windows Mail is an e-mail and newsgroup client included in Windows Vista. It is the successor to Outlook Express. Microsoft previewed Windows Mail on Channel 9 on October 10, 2005.^[1]

Unlike Outlook Express, Windows Mail is not considered to be a component of Internet Explorer. As such, it will not be made available for earlier Windows operating systems, while Internet Explorer 7 was made available for Windows XP.

Windows Mail has been succeeded by Windows Live Mail, which was built by the same development team as Windows Mail and also serves as the replacement for Outlook Express for Windows XP.

[edit] Differences from Outlook Express

[edit] New features

Although the Windows Mail interface has only minor differences from Outlook Express such as the toolbar icons being replaced to reflect Windows Vista's interface and some interface features incorporated from Outlook 2003 including the right-hand "reading pane," larger changes have been made hidden from the user.

• Windows Mail uses IPv6 if the domain name for the servers resolves to IPv6.^[2]
• Mail messages are now stored in individual files instead of in a single database file. A transactional index database based on the Extensible Storage Engine enables real-time searching and improves the stability and the reliability of the stored data. In case of corruption, the indices can be rebuilt from the mail files.
• Account setup information is no longer stored in the registry. It is instead stored alongside the mail itself, making it possible to copy an entire Windows Mail configuration and mail store to another machine in a single step.
• Features like Bayesian junk-mail filtering and top-level domain and encoding blocking have been added.
• A phishing filter has been incorporated as well, protecting users from web sites that have been identified as being malicious.
• Additionally, Microsoft Help Groups has been added, which is a preconfigured link to Microsoft's newsgroups. Some additional functionality has been layered on top of the standard newsgroup functionality to have individual threads be marked as a "question" or an "answered question". Postings may be rated as well.
• With the release of Windows Vista, Windows Mail has a documented COM-based API. ^[3] Previously, the Outlook Express object model was undocumented, except for Simple MAPI messaging functionality. ^[4]

[edit] Removed features

Unlike its predecessor Outlook Express, Windows Mail does not have WebDAV, making it incapable of accessing web based email services through WebDAV. Although Outlook Express integrates with Windows Messenger, Windows Mail has no such integration as Windows Messenger is no longer included. A more full-featured free downloadable application, Windows Live Mail integrates with Windows Live Contacts.

Unlike Outlook Express, Windows Mail does not allow users to switch Identities or manage multiple identities within one running instance of the program. Instead, identities are now tied to the user account and to create additional users or identities, a new user account has to be created. ^[5]

Also, HTTP clients are no longer supported in Windows Mail. Windows Live Mail would be a more suitable choice for a mail client, because it supports HTTP clients.

The ability to use the spellchecking dictionaries of MS Office (when installed) has been removed. Windows mail only supports the following languages:

• English (US only)
• French
• German
• Spanish (International Sort)

[edit] See also

• Windows Live Mail
• Outlook Express
• List of Microsoft Windows components
• Features new to Windows Vista

[edit] References

1. ^ The new Outlook Express: Windows Mail demoed
2. ^ "UNINETT: IPv6hostswindows".
3. ^ Windows Mail Programmability
4. ^ Developer Support Limitations with Outlook Express
5. ^ E-mail identities in Windows Mail

[edit] External links

• Channel 9 (Microsoft) - 'The new Outlook Express: Windows Mail demoed'
• Windows Mail Features - 'Windows Mail is a vast improvement over OE'
• Windows Vista for Beginners - 'How to migrate from Outlook Express to Windows Mail'
• Windows Mail Forum - 'Discussion forum for Windows Mail Applications'
• Computerworld article - 'Microsoft gives Vista's 'Windows Mail' the heave-ho'

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