Replacing Outlook Express: what's best?

**geistman** · 2011-05-05 22:44

A friend asked my advice. He is getting a new Win7 computer and replacing his old XP system. He uses Outlook Express for emails, which of course is not available for Win7. So his question -- what email client is best to use in Windows 7 -- Win Live Mail, Thunderbird, or some other client? He is looking for something that will make it easy to transfer his contact list and old emails, and something that is easy to learn (he is not too tech savvy). So what do you think?

**CLiNT** · 2011-05-05 22:55

Windows Live Mail is the successor to Outlook Express, but he may choose any client he wishes based upon his needs, looks, and function.
So there would be no best client, but in this case I would recommend WLM since it is very similar to the client he is already familiar with.

Windows Live Mail

Windows Live Mail: A common misconception is that one needs to have a Hotmail or Windows Live account. This is false and an account with the aforementioned is only optional.

**Medico** · 2011-05-06 05:15

I have been using WLM since I installed Win 7 during the RC and Beta days without a problem. As Clint mentions it is very similar to OE, but with more features including a calender function that I use all the time.

**jwitalka** · 2011-05-06 11:28

Windows Live mail uses Microsoft's ribbon interface that is very different from Outlook Express. Some people hate it and some people love it. Try it and make up your own mind but I think it is very different from Outlook express.

Jerry

**CLiNT** · 2011-05-06 13:48

There is always one of the 2 other (older) versions of WLM. There are links in this forum somewhere for the full offline install and plenty of
information on all of them. The ribbons can be a drawback for some folks, personally I don't care for it, but it is usable.

**LukeSBE** · 2011-05-12 02:11

Two responses:

- Thanks to my job, I have a [giant] reduction on the MS Office 2010 license, so I installed Outlook on my machine.
- My son, who is just getting into computers (he's 11), uses Windows Live Mail on his laptop and loves the simplicity ot the application. No prior experience with OE, though.

**miketate** · 2011-05-12 04:31

I am not sure about other E-mail clients, but when you use Windows Easy Transfer to transfer files & settings from XP to Win 7, then your Outlook Express accounts, E-mail messages, etc., etc., will be automatically transferred into Windows Live Mail.

**pheberer** · 2011-05-12 07:31

*I* personally like Windows Mail, which is the big brother of Outlook Express from Vista. There is a good tutorial for reinstating Windows Mail in Windows 7 at: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials...dows-mail.html. FWIW, if you also like Windows Calendar, that cn be reinstated for Win 7 as well!

Cheers!

**Septuagent** · 2011-05-12 09:06

I use, and have used for some time now, after Eudora packed, "The Bat" - http://www.ritlabs.com/en/products/thebat/

**buddpaul** · 2011-05-12 09:21

One program which has little exposure in America is WikMail. Very compatable with Windows 7, especially Upgrade on older computers.

**Pete Burns** · 2011-05-12 15:34

As a follower of Ask Leo (as well as Windows Secrets) I have taken his recommendation and moved to Thunderbird, and I'm very happy with it.
http://ask-leo.com/thunderbird_a_fre...il_client.html

As a bonus, he has free articles both on this move, and also Outlook Express move to Windows Live Mail. He's a very useful source of information.

**Paradigmo** · 2011-05-12 17:11

I had exactly the same same dilemma when I first moved from XP to Windows 7. I really liked Outlook Express, probably because I had become so familiar with it over the years. I did have the option of installing Outlook but I found that it was somewhat large and ponderous, and included way more than I needed.

In the end I installed Thunderbird, and initially I wasn't sure that I had made the correct choice. However I stuck with it and the more I learned about how very customisable it was, the more I liked it.

End result? I am so glad that I was forced to make the change and I cannot recommend Thunderbird highly enough. I love this program! Your friend is going to find that any change of email client necessitates some form of learning curve, big or small, so I would suggest that Thunderbird as it comes in the basic package might not be too much of a struggle. As a clincher Thunderbird is multi-platform, so having made the move there should be no need to go through the upheaval again.

**best1syn2oil** · 2011-05-12 21:04

I used Windows Live Mail for a while but then tried out eM Client and have been hooked ever since. I have a home business and this does so many things that I don't know how I did without it. http://www.emclient.com/

**Banyarola** · 2011-05-13 03:22

Thunderbird....

I tried WLM and didn't it...

**Gomek** · 2011-05-14 07:54

Originally Posted by miketate

I am not sure about other E-mail clients, but when you use Windows Easy Transfer to transfer files & settings from XP to Win 7, then your Outlook Express accounts, E-mail messages, etc., etc., will be automatically transferred into Windows Live Mail.

Yes it does, but stores the message store in a folder towards the end of the folder list that's a pain to access, as far as I know, you can not directly import inbox -> inbox but then again, I only use WLM on my laptop which I don't use that often.

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