Computer Corner #19
By Bob Habas
Formally of computer Connections
Windows Live Mail
is an e-mail client from Microsoft's Windows Live set of products. It is the
successor for Outlook Express on Windows XP and Windows Mail on Windows Vista.
The application is available for download via the Windows Live Essentials
suite.
Windows Live Mail is similar to Outlook
Express but, has these additional features:
- Integration with Windows Live Messenger,
Windows Live Spaces, and Windows Live Contacts.
- The ability to connect to popular email
services such as Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, or Gmail, or to email from your
Internet service provider (ISP).
- The ability to automatically configure
many popular e‑mail services. All you need to do is enter your
e‑mail address and Windows Live Mail will automatically enter the
correct settings for the e‑mail servers used by that service.
Windows Live Mail is an email program that
you install on your computer. It allows you to send and receive messages from
one e‑mail account or from multiple accounts with different e‑mail
services.
With Windows Live Mail, messages are stored
on your PC, allowing you to access, read, and compose e‑mail messages
even when you're not connected to the Internet. Once you connect, Windows Live
Mail will send and receive messages and update your accounts.
Windows Live Mail is designed to work with
most popular e‑mail services, as well as e‑mail services from even
the smallest ISPs. All that's required is for the e‑mail provider to
offer Post Office Protocol (POP3) or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
access.
Customize your look. Windows Live Mail is
highly customizable. You can change the look of your Inbox, mail folders, and
almost every other aspect of the program, tweaking the settings to your
heart’s content.
For example, you can:
- Move the reading pane (also known as the
preview pane) to the bottom or the right side of your messages, or you can
turn it off altogether.
- Display one line or two lines of
information from each message in your message list. This gives you the
option of packing more messages onto the screen, or showing fewer messages
with more eye-pleasing white space.
- Choose which mail folders to show, hide,
or collapse. This can free up space so you can view more messages even if
you have a computer with a small screen.
- Show or hide message headers.
- Choose which buttons you want to have
visible in the Toolbar.
- Turn on or off Active Search, a feature
that displays Internet search results and sponsored links based on keywords
in the currently selected e‑mail message.
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