Alternatives to Outlook Express

Outlook Express is a good email program, but it’s not the only choice. We examine the alternatives

If you’ve ever used a Windows PC since the days of Windows 98, you’ve had your hands on a computer that comes with a lot of free software.

And chances are at some point you’ll have been curious enough to dabble with Outlook Express to download and organise your email.

However there are plenty of alternatives out there. So dust the cobwebs off your inbox and give one of our recommendations a spin.

These days email programs are very sophisticated, despite the fact that in most cases you won’t be charged a penny for using them.

That means most applications offer lots of useful features to help you locate, store, filter and protect your messages ­ and many are free.

The crucial features
First let’s make a key distinction between the two main types of email application. Desktop systems (such as Outlook Express) are installed on your hard disk and access your email via the internet from your ISP’s email server, where the messages sent to you are stored before you download them.

Webmail services (such as Hotmail) do away with the PC software and instead operate as a website. The advantage of this is that you can access and send messages, and consult your address book, from any internet-connected computer.

One of the most useful features also happens to be one that’s included in any good email application. If you don’t have a spam filter function in your chosen email tool, then it’s definitely time to switch.

Sure, Outlook Express (or Windows Mail as it’s known in Vista) includes Junk Mail options to weed out advertising messages from your everyday mail. But systems deal with junk mail in different ways. Some will filter it based on their own lists of web addresses, some will look for common words or phrases and others enable you to set up your own guidelines based on messages you receive.

Most email software provides a spam folder to search or browse. That means if the system has been a bit overeager and accidentally removed some legitimate emails, you can still find them. And with phishing attacks being such a problem these days, anything that helps to block rogue emails and stops your identity being stolen or your bank account being emptied has to be a good thing.

The second most vital function, again standard on any email system, is some form of contact or address book. Obviously you don’t want to have to remember every person’s email address every time you need to get in touch. Most address books can also be saved as a file and imported into other email programs, so you don’t have to type them in all over again if you decide to switch systems.

Addresses are not the only thing that can be shared between most mail programs. For example, your existing collection of email messages and even information, such as junk mail filters are stored as separate files and can often be moved between email programs.

Another useful service is the ability to encrypt your email using something like the Hushmail web service. This online email account scrambles messages when they are sent across the internet, so no-one can read them if they get intercepted.

It sounds complicated but you need no technical knowledge as encrypting a message is as simple as clicking a button. This extra security can be added to your existing email program for a fee of $14.99 (about £8) a year (rising to $29.99 a year thereafter) or you can simply use the free webmail version online.

Many email programs also include a newsgroup reader.

In the same way that email software reads the personal messages sent to your account, a newsgroup reader looks at an online group you have signed up for and displays any messages found there.

Email software
Selecting email software to handle your important messages can be a headache with so much to choose from.

Historically, the same companies that make web browsers have also tended to create the software to read your email and this is usually the best place to start.

After all, the two services go hand-in-hand for most users. That’s certainly true today, when it’s possible to use email software from the creators of the Opera web browser, Internet Explorer and Firefox.

However, there are plenty of applications that solely deal with the task of looking after your emails. Incredimail is one of the most popular and well known but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Tucows download website lists three pages of email software.

Incredimail has many users. It allows users to have fun with mail, and customise messages and backgrounds, but it also has its downsides. Some users complain that the software leaves traces of itself throughout your PC and hogs resources.

When the amusement of multi-coloured emails and dancing icons wears off, a bloated PC that performs more slowly than before is a big price to pay.

You’re much better off trying something that takes the job more seriously. For instance, the mail software that comes from the creators of Opera is, like the company’s web browser, simple and easy to use. It’s also a breeze to switch between email and web browsing by clicking on the relevant tab.

We would normally also recommend the Netscape Communicator software. However AOL, the company that owns the Netscape browser, announced in January 2008 that it would cease to support the software and its related products.

That means users will not receive security or software updates after February 2008, which makes the software vulnerable to any holes hackers find in the future. For that reason, steer clear.

Thunderbirds are go
The sensible thing to do is to give Thunderbird a test drive. Created by the same people responsible for Firefox, Thunderbird integrates well with that web browser and has a big enough user base that the support isn’t about to run out any time soon.

This neat email tool also doesn’t take up much space on your computer or gobble up resources. It handles junk mail well, allowing you to delete it straight away or place it in a folder for reviewing later.

The filtering mechanism lets you tag junk it missed the first time around, and the programme uses a form of artificial intelligence called Bayesian filters that allow it to learn what it should bin as time goes on. That’s far more important than animated signatures but Thunderbird isn’t just good at its job.

It’s possible to customise the toolbars and change how the program looks using different themes. All the popular mail formats are supported and Thunderbird lets you import email, address books and settings from Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora (which is longer supported) and Netscape Communicator.

Installation of the Thunderbird email software begins at the downloads section of the Computeractive website. Type www.computeractive.co.uk/2170797 into the address bar of your web browser. Click on the Free Download link and choose Save from the window that appears. When it has finished, double-click on the file. Follow the instructions to install the software onto your PC.

Once it is installed, the first thing you’ll want to do is pull all your information from Outlook Express into Thunderbird.

If you are starting up Thunderbird for the first time, the Import Wizard will pop up, and you can then select the Outlook Express option to import your mail, address books, and settings.

To do this manually at a later date, go to the Tools menu and choose Import. Select Address Books and click on the Next button. Choose Outlook Express from the list of options and click on Next again. The imported contacts list appears in the menu when you open Thunderbird’s Address Book.

Importing your existing messages and your settings is almost exactly the same, except this time, instead of choosing Address Books from the options, you need to select the appropriate option and follow the instructions.

Ban the spam
Using the junk mail feature in Thunderbird is also remarkably easy. Simply click on a message in your inbox to highlight it and then you have a couple of options to tag it as spam. Either press the Flame icon in the top toolbar, or click on the This Is Junk button on the message itself.

The standard window displaying your messages shows miniature flames in the column next to the date, to show you which messages have been designated as spam.

The best thing about Thunderbird is that it learns to filter emails based on your choices. If it marked a message as spam and you save it from its grave in the Junk Mail folder, it will look at why it marked it as junk in the first place and modify those criteria next time a similar message comes into your inbox.

In the same way, as you mark messages as spam it makes a note of their characteristics and uses that to catch similar messages the next time around. The more you mark, the more accurate it becomes.

If you’d rather have spam messages separated from your other email, go to the Tools menu and choose Options. Click on Privacy and then select the Junk tab. Put a tick in the check box next to When I Mark Messages As Junk and you can have them go straight into the Junk Mail folder. Just remember to check this folder regularly to hone Thunderbird’s blocking skills.

Admittedly, Outlook Express and Windows Mail are an easy option for PC users who like the comfort of built-in software. However it takes only a hint of an adventurous spirit to try out a few alternatives. Our favourite, Thunderbird, has the features to turn your head and make it worth the switch.

Microsoft Outlook
If you don’t want to stray too far from Outlook Express, how about switching to Microsoft’s more powerful email software? Whereas Outlook Express is designed for home users, Microsoft Outlook was developed with serious business folk in mind and it comes packed with features.

The latest version, Office Outlook 2007, allows you to search for keywords, dates and other flexible criteria to locate items in your email, calendar, contacts and tasks. You can also create and publish internet calendars on Microsoft Office Online, to share your diary with other people.

Outlook also syncs very well with Windows Mobile devices, such as smartphones or handheld PCs, letting you carry your address book, calendar and email wherever you go. Meanwhile an improved junk mail filter disables links in messages and warns you about threatening content within email messages.

On the down side, the application is expensive to buy. While it’s included as standard in the full-price edition of Microsoft Office 2007 (at about £300) it’s sadly missing from the cheaper Home and Student versions of the office suite. However, most Windows Mobile smartphones come with a copy included in the box.

Revert to Outlook Express
Should you switch your regular Outlook Express email habit for a taste of Thunderbird, it’s worth considering what to do if you decide you don’t like it and want to switch back. Sadly, Outlook Express doesn’t recognise Thunderbird’s mailbox files, so you can’t simply import any messages you received back into OE.

There are a couple of workarounds to this problem, however. First off, Mozilla recommends getting rid of any special characters you used in the names of mailbox folders (for example, the @ symbol, commas, etc). This is to prepare the files so they can be exported using another method.

If you only have a small number of messages in your Inbox, it’s possible to select each message individually, go to the File menu and choose Save As, File. Save each email with an .eml extension and they can then be imported into Outlook Express.

If all else fails, you can still open the file with a text editor such as Notepad.

There are also a number of third-party utilities such as mbox2emi, mailbag assistant, Aid4mail, IMAPSize, and mbx2eml that can be used to create .eml files. These files can be dragged and dropped into Outlook Express. Thunderbird’s own AutoSave extension can be used to save an entire folder as individual EML files.