Windows Patch?

[Gary VanderMolen]

What have you got against WLM? To me it seems very
similar to Thunderbird.

Gary VanderMolen

Hello Frank, Gary, Michael and Julian
Thanks for your brief observations re WinMail - my daughter insisted on having Vista on a new computer in March(which was
against my advice, having kept an eye on the groups) and she has had nothing but problems each week.
I quickly made sure she had the relevant newsgroups to help her.
Over the last month the WinMail has almost completely gone - she can send and receive but she can no longer delete from the
default folders.
I told her to wait and see if there is anything in this months Black Tuesday update - it appears that there will be nothing. I
have told her to download nothing from MS that might update her to WLM.
So I shall suggest she moves to TB and kills Win Mail.
Thanks again
Rgds
Antioch

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM]

What have you got against WLM? To me it seems very
similar to Thunderbird.

After having tried TB for a while, I fine WLM better than TB and not an
awful lot worse than WM.
So I rank them (from best to worst:
Windows Mail
Windows Live Mail
Thunderbird

 

[MICHAEL]

* Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM:

After having tried TB for a while, I fine WLM better than TB and not an
awful lot worse than WM.
So I rank them (from best to worst:
Windows Mail
Windows Live Mail
Thunderbird

Wow.


-Michael

 

[Kevin Young]

* Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM:

Wow.

Not sure I agree with your ranking but all seem to have their advantages and
disadvantages. Right now, for speed and reliability TB wins hands down in
my opinion. Since WLM is still in beta though that could well change and
I'm hoping it will. The lack of Hotmail\MSN HTTP support in WM is a design
decision that I will never understand - I mean really, lets design an email
client that doesn't even support our own email hosting? I still have my
fingers crossed that MS will make several of the changes to WLM that have
been suggested here and can solve the speed and reliability issues. If
they do, WLM will move to the head of the pack in my view.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Not sure I agree with your ranking but all seem to have their advantages and disadvantages. Right now, for speed and
reliability TB wins hands down in my opinion. Since WLM is still in beta though that could well change and I'm hoping it will.
The lack of Hotmail\MSN HTTP support in WM is a design decision that I will never understand - I mean really, lets design an
email client that doesn't even support our own email hosting? I still have my fingers crossed that MS will make several of the
changes to WLM that have been suggested here and can solve the speed and reliability issues. If they do, WLM will move to the
head of the pack in my view.

Anyone have a projection as to what will happen with WM?
Here's my guess. When Service Pack 1 for Vista is released, it will
include the finished WLM, which will then physically replace WM.
Why? WM wasn't really finished when Vista was declared RTM quality.
Microsoft doesn't want to invest the time and resources necessary to
finish and fix WM after they have already expended much effort on WLM.

 

[MICHAEL]

* Gary VanderMolen:

Anyone have a projection as to what will happen with WM?
Here's my guess. When Service Pack 1 for Vista is released, it will
include the finished WLM, which will then physically replace WM.
Why? WM wasn't really finished when Vista was declared RTM quality.
Microsoft doesn't want to invest the time and resources necessary to
finish and fix WM after they have already expended much effort on WLM.

I tend to agree, Gary.

Working WLM into SP1 does make since. Regardless of how/when
WLM is set to totally replace WM, I do believe it is meant as the
replacement for WM, sooner or later. From everything that I have
I read and an interview given by a lead Windows Live developer-
there will be no further development on WM.... it's dead. While it's
unfortunate that this whole mess has happened, it absolutely makes more
sense for Microsoft to focus their talent and resources on only one free
email client. This whole mess was really created by some knuckleheads
who wanted WLMD to be an ad revenue generator. But they knew that
there would be those who wouldn't use it because of that, so they kept
on with WM. Fortunately, the developers and marketing caught a clue,
and took out the ads.

Will WLM also be part of SP3 for WinXP as a replacement for OE?
Maybe. But, I see OE getting a death sentence similar to an old
Office product- yes, it can still be used but official support will cease,
and WLM will be offered instead. I see WM, at some point, totally
being replaced.... future Vista install discs containing WLM and not WM.
And really, after the aggravation of all this has worn off, it only makes
sense to maintain, support, and develop *one* free email client. There
will be those unhappy users, but looking at it from a business POV, there
can only be one free email client.... before this mess, that's how it had been
for a long time. Free Outlook Express and paid for Outlook. Somewhere
along the line things got complicated and discombobulated, it looks
like now Microsoft is trying simplify the situation. Hopefully, WLM becomes
a much better product and we'll all forget about this confusion.


-Michael

 

[MICHAEL]

* Kevin Young:

Not sure I agree with your ranking but all seem to have their advantages and
disadvantages. Right now, for speed and reliability TB wins hands down in
my opinion. Since WLM is still in beta though that could well change and
I'm hoping it will. The lack of Hotmail\MSN HTTP support in WM is a design
decision that I will never understand - I mean really, lets design an email
client that doesn't even support our own email hosting? I still have my
fingers crossed that MS will make several of the changes to WLM that have
been suggested here and can solve the speed and reliability issues. If
they do, WLM will move to the head of the pack in my view.

I agree about Thunderbird. Like you, I believe that may change as WLM
progresses.... I hope so.

The lack of Hotmail support in WM was a bad business decision- it
was meant to drive users towards what was the ad supported WLMD,
or drive them to the web interface (more ads). It's why they discontinued
free Hotmail support via Outlook Connector in Outlook- which they have
also done an about face. The new Outlook Connector once again allows
for free Hotmail. Thankfully, someone got a clue.

Take care,

Michael