Can You Install and Run Windows Mail on XP?

[Don Cohen]

My XP Home desktop computer died, and was just replaced with a Vista 64-bit
system. I was surprised to see Outlook Express replaced by "Windows Mail"
but what can you do. I was able to import messages, address book, etc., and
it's all set up fine.

I also have a Laptop running XP Home, and used to periodically copy the dbx
files from desktop to laptop so that I could have access to all my emails
whether at home, or when traveling.

I just realized that this is going to be a problem, with my Desktop running
Vista and Windows Mail, and my Laptop running XP Home and Outlook Express.
Obviously, the file structure for the emails is no longer compatible.

So:

1. Can I install Windows Mail on my XP Home Laptop? I really prefer
Outlook Express, but I need the compatibility with my desktop even more.

2. Any other suggestions on how to deal with this? Web-based email is not
an option - I have thousands of emails intricately organized on my systems,
and they are not housed on the web servers.

Thanks for any information and ideas!

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

No, you can't install Windows Mail on XP.
The best solution for you is to upgrade both email programs to
Windows Live Mail, which installs on both Vista and XP.
http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

 

[Don Cohen]

My XP Home desktop computer died, and was just replaced with a Vista
64-bit system. I was surprised to see Outlook Express replaced by
"Windows Mail" but what can you do. I was able to import messages,
address book, etc., and it's all set up fine.

I also have a Laptop running XP Home, and used to periodically copy the
dbx files from desktop to laptop so that I could have access to all my
emails whether at home, or when traveling.

I just realized that this is going to be a problem, with my Desktop
running Vista and Windows Mail, and my Laptop running XP Home and Outlook
Express. Obviously, the file structure for the emails is no longer
compatible.

So:

1. Can I install Windows Mail on my XP Home Laptop? I really prefer
Outlook Express, but I need the compatibility with my desktop even more.

2. Any other suggestions on how to deal with this? Web-based email is
not an option - I have thousands of emails intricately organized on my
systems, and they are not housed on the web servers.

Thanks for any information and ideas!

Anybody have any information about this?

Another email client that is compatible with both Outlook Express and
Windows Mail that can run under Vista and XP?

Thanks.

 

[deborah vaught]

My XP Home desktop computer died, and was just replaced with a Vista
64-bit system. I was surprised to see Outlook Express replaced by
"Windows Mail" but what can you do. I was able to import messages,
address book, etc., and it's all set up fine.

I also have a Laptop running XP Home, and used to periodically copy the
dbx files from desktop to laptop so that I could have access to all my
emails whether at home, or when traveling.

I just realized that this is going to be a problem, with my Desktop
running Vista and Windows Mail, and my Laptop running XP Home and Outlook
Express. Obviously, the file structure for the emails is no longer
compatible.

So:

1. Can I install Windows Mail on my XP Home Laptop? I really prefer
Outlook Express, but I need the compatibility with my desktop even more.

2. Any other suggestions on how to deal with this? Web-based email is
not an option - I have thousands of emails intricately organized on my
systems, and they are not housed on the web servers.

Thanks for any information and ideas!

 

[Don Cohen]

No, you can't install Windows Mail on XP.
The best solution for you is to upgrade both email programs to
Windows Live Mail, which installs on both Vista and XP.
http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

Thanks.

Sorry I didn't see your response earlier. The display of newsgroup posts in
Windows Mail is different (not color marked, and not yet set to auto expand
the threads), so I missed this post.

It appears that Windows Live Mail is still in beta? Is it "ready for prime
time"?

Any significant issues I need to be aware of?

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Thanks.

Sorry I didn't see your response earlier. The display of newsgroup posts
in Windows Mail is different (not color marked, and not yet set to auto
expand the threads), so I missed this post.

It appears that Windows Live Mail is still in beta? Is it "ready for
prime time"?

Any significant issues I need to be aware of?

Thanks.

There's a new version of it still in beta rest, but you should be able to
get the old prime time version here:

http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Thanks.

Sorry I didn't see your response earlier. The display of newsgroup posts in Windows Mail is different (not color marked, and
not yet set to auto expand the threads), so I missed this post.

It appears that Windows Live Mail is still in beta? Is it "ready for prime time"?

Any significant issues I need to be aware of?

Released version (November 2007):
http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

Current beta test version:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

The best way to find out about it is to try it.
If it turns out you don't like it, uninstall, and OE/Windows Mail is back
just like before.

 

[Don Cohen]

"> Released version (November 2007):

http://get.live.com/wlmail/overview

Current beta test version:
http://download.live.com/wlmail

The best way to find out about it is to try it.
If it turns out you don't like it, uninstall, and OE/Windows Mail is back
just like before.

Thanks Gary (and Robert).

1. Can both Live versions import messages/folders from Windows Mail and
Outlook Express, maintaining the proper organizational structure?

2. Can both Live versions import the Windows Address Book from OE? Windows
Mail did import my .wab file, but it doesn't maintain the various Groups I
had set up! It took me quite a while to figure out a work-around and
repeatedly edit the original .wab file to isolate the groups and import
separately.

3. Any substantial known issues with either released or beta version that
people find to be a "deal killer"?

I know I can probably find these answers after investing some time, but I'm
still busy setting up the new system (hardware and software), learning the
ins and outs of Vista 64-bit (this is my first Vista system), etc.

Thanks!

 

[mac]

"> Released version (November 2007):

Thanks Gary (and Robert).

1. Can both Live versions import messages/folders from Windows Mail and
Outlook Express, maintaining the proper organizational structure?

2. Can both Live versions import the Windows Address Book from OE?
Windows Mail did import my .wab file, but it doesn't maintain the various
Groups I had set up! It took me quite a while to figure out a work-around
and repeatedly edit the original .wab file to isolate the groups and
import separately.

3. Any substantial known issues with either released or beta version that
people find to be a "deal killer"?

I know I can probably find these answers after investing some time, but
I'm still busy setting up the new system (hardware and software), learning
the ins and outs of Vista 64-bit (this is my first Vista system), etc.

Thanks!

They both work, get the latest version.
It usually imports everything.

See, and use the newsgroup microsoft.public.windows.live.mail.desktop
For any problems that others might be encountering?

 

[Don Cohen]

They both work, get the latest version.

It usually imports everything.

See, and use the newsgroup microsoft.public.windows.live.mail.desktop
For any problems that others might be encountering?

Regards Steve.
MS-MVP. MAIL. [DTS] UK.
http://www.getsafeonline.org/

Thanks Steve. I did just browse around that group. Nothing catastrophic
reported so far that wasn't user error!

"It usually imports everything" - including group structure in the Address
Book?


Thinking more about this, another work-around occurred to me that might
avoid needing another mail client:

If I set both WM and OE to leave email on the server for let's say 7 days,
then as long as I check email with both systems at least once a week, then
I'll have copies of all received emails, on both systems.

And if I blind copy myself on all emails sent (probably configuring new
specific email accounts for this purpose), then I can also maintain copies
of all emails sent on both systems in the same fashion.

That might be the best solution, unless WLM offers some particular
advantages over both WM and OE.

Thoughts?

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Comments inline.

They both work, get the latest version.
It usually imports everything.

See, and use the newsgroup microsoft.public.windows.live.mail.desktop
For any problems that others might be encountering?

Regards Steve.
MS-MVP. MAIL. [DTS] UK.
http://www.getsafeonline.org/

Thanks Steve. I did just browse around that group. Nothing catastrophic reported so far that wasn't user error!

"It usually imports everything" - including group structure in the Address Book?

We know that importing contacts via a CSV file loses the Group info.
I'm not sure about importing a WAB file, since I've never done that.
The automatic importer that runs during the WLM install is fairly
intelligent. Give it a chance.

Thinking more about this, another work-around occurred to me that might avoid needing another mail client:

If I set both WM and OE to leave email on the server for let's say 7 days, then as long as I check email with both systems at
least once a week, then I'll have copies of all received emails, on both systems.

And if I blind copy myself on all emails sent (probably configuring new specific email accounts for this purpose), then I can
also maintain copies of all emails sent on both systems in the same fashion.

That should work, but invariably you'll forget to do the BCC copy from
time to time. Also, your contacts will get out of sync. This is another
advantage of WLM in that you can set it to sync with Contacts on a
Hotmail account, and all other computers configured similarly will maintain
perfectly synced Contacts.

That might be the best solution, unless WLM offers some particular advantages over both WM and OE.

WLM has better handling of Groups, in that when you add a Group to
the To line, you can edit out individual recipients in that group.
WLM has auto-correct (changes common typos like 'teh' to 'the'), and
its spell checker is live in that it immediately underlines a misspelled
word with a red line. There are many other small improvements.
I recommend you evaluate it on one of your machines.