As long as this is free, you can't go wrong
Written: Nov 09 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Free, easy-to-use, and functional e-mail client
Cons: None that I've seen
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| basilisk4's Full Review: Microsoft Outlook Express |
Microsoft may have made a mistake with its recent versions of Outlook Express. You see, Outlook Express comes bundled for free along with just about every other Microsoft product, including all recent versions of Windows (Me, NT, and 2000), as far as I've been able to tell. Outlook Express is a good enough e-mail client that the average user will have no reason to upgrade to Microsoft Outlook, which actually costs money.
Honestly, it probably makes very little difference to Microsoft anyway, primarily since Microsoft Outlook is bundled with all versions of Microsoft Office 98 and 2000. Micosoft Office is such a standard these days that it's hard to find anyone who doesn't have it, and therefore the full version of Outlook as well; most name-brand computers come with loads of pre-installed software, many of which include some version of Microsoft Office. As a result, people who have only Outlook Express are likely to be those who bought a bargain-basement type computer or for any other reason just aren't willing to spend loads of money on an e-mail client.
That having been said, Microsoft Outlook Express is a perfectly sufficient e-mail program. Outlook Express is basically just a toned-down, bare-bones version of Outlook. In my experience Outlook Express is just about as functional, stable, and dependable as any other e-mail client out there, including the expensive ones. Sure, it's not feature-rich, but since I never used any of the added features in other e-mail programs anyway, that's just fine with me.
Up until just about a year and a half ago or so, I was a faithful Netscape user. Not surprisingly, I also used Netscape Mail as my e-mail client for several years. When I finally couldn't take the crashes and annoyances of Netscape Navigator and Mail any longer (especially since it was devolving into the AOL browser anyway, blech!), I decided to try Outlook Express. On the various computers and across the different e-mail accounts I use on a daily basis, I've now been using a combination of Outlook and Outlook Express (along with pine and elm) for a year or two now, and I've been quite happy with it.
There actually aren't that many differences between Outlook and Outlook Express which actually have anything to do with either's fitness as an e-mail client. That is, Outlook has a great deal of extra features, such as a Calendar, a Contact List, and things like that, but since, as I mentioned above, I don't use the extra superfluous features, Outlook Express is just fine for me. The full version of Outlook has a somewhat more pleasing appearance, in my opinion, but that's more a matter of personal preference than anything else.
I almost submitted this review without remembering this, but there is one thing that's pretty darn annoying about Outlook Express. In Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, and perhaps some other versions as well, Windows automatically puts an Outlook Express icon on your desktop. This, in and of itself, wouldn't be exceptionally annoying, if not for the fact that it seems to keep putting the shortcut icon back onto your desktop, no matter how many times you delete it. This can be especially annoying if you're using another e-mail client. Moreover, since Outlook Express is pre-installed along with the operating system, it's uninstallable. It seems particularly silly to me that it doesn't know better than to keep adding this icon if you're using the full version of Outlook on your machine.
Microsoft Outlook Express should serve most users' e-mail needs nicely, either as a primary e-mail client or as a back-up for Outlook. The cross-compatibility between Outlook and Outlook Express, as well as their ability to import mail messages both from each other and from numerous other e-mail programs, makes either one of them a smart choice.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
basilisk4
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Atlanta, GA
Reviews written: 233
Trusted by: 214 members
About Me:
Soon-to-be married 26-year-old lawyer who likes electronics, computers, and cars.
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