Aye, there's the rub. I have the Home & Student edition.
That's what I suspected.
Do you strongly recommend the paid version of Outlook (vs. WLM, or even Google)? In other words, are the features vastly superior to those in WLM (which you have said that you don't care for)? I'll have to check the pricing.
Google (gmail.com) is an e-mail *provider*, not an e-mail program; you
can't contrast it with an e-mail program like Outlook. You can read
and write gmail either in a web browser like Internet Explorer( which
is what most gmail users do, because they don't know any better) or
using almost any e-mail program.For example, I have several e-mail
addresses, including a gmail one, and I use Outlook for all of them.
As far as I'm concerned, doing e-mail in a browser rather than an
e-mail program is the slowest, clumsiest way to do it. It has many
disadvantages. I do it occasionally when traveling, and always hate
doing so. But there are many thousands (if not millions) of people who
do it that way every day, like it, and disagree with me. My guess is
that most of them know very little about e-mail programs and what the
many advantages are of using almost any of them over a browser.
And Windows Live Mail is terrible primarily because it does not
properly quote text messages with the > sign, as you can see that I am
doing in this reply to you.
Should you use Outlook? Some other e-mail program? They each have
their advantages and disadvantages, and you should make your own
choice; we all do things differently and have different likes and
dislikes. And some are free, some are inexpensive, and some cost a lot
(Outlook, for example, is expensive). I like Outlook not just because
of the way it does e-mail, but also because of other things it does
(it's a personal information manager). You might like some other less
expensive program equally well, or even prefer it.
Following is my standard message on the subject of e-mail programs,
which repeats some of what I said above:
Outlook Express has been gone for several years. Windows XP was the
last version of Windows to include it.
Windows Vista had Windows Mail as its replacement (it's essentially a
newer version of Outlook Express), but that is also gone in Windows 7
(however it can be brought into Windows 7 from a Windows Vista
machine).
Windows 7 comes with *no* e-mail or newsgroup program. Although many
people object to this, I think it's a step in the right direction,
since it leaves everyone more free to choose whatever program(s) he
likes best. There are many choices available, both from Microsoft and
from third-parties. Some are free and some are for sale. Microsoft has
Windows Live Mail (which is essentially also a newer version of
Outlook Express/Windows Mail, with still another new name) available
for download for free and Outlook (a different program from outlook
express) available for sale, either alone or as part of Microsoft
Office.
If your computer came with Windows 7 preinstalled, it may have also
come with Windows Live Mail. If so, that's not because Windows 7 came
with it, it's because your computer's manufacturer bundled it with
what he sold you.
Some people will tell you to use Windows Live Mail; others will tell
you to use Thunderbird; still others may have other recommendations.
My advice is to ignore all such recommendations. I personally use
Microsoft Outlook for e-mail and Forté Agent for newsgroups, but you
should try several and choose what *you* like best, rather than make
your decision based on what I, or anyone else, likes best (or even
what Microsoft suggests).
