Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 Ships -- Microsoft has released Outlook Express 5.0, a major upgrade to the company's free Internet email and Usenet news client. New features aimed at simplifying Outlook Express for novice users include an Account setup wizard, improved attachment handling, interface changes, address auto-complete, a Mailing List Manager, and a Junk Mail Filter. Microsoft has also added features aimed at heavy email users, including custom fields in the Address Book, message histories, support for using the Spacebar to scroll through messages, enhanced IMAP support, scheduled events, and an Advanced Find feature that supports multiple criteria. However, users with a great deal of stored mail should be aware that Outlook Express 5.0 now stores all messages in a single mail database, which makes for a single point of failure (make sure to read the Read Me for instructions on rebuilding the mail database in case of corruption) and forces inefficient backups. Outlook Express also includes integration with HotMail for email messages (but not contacts) and can synchronize contacts (but not email) with Palm devices. Outlook Express 5.0 requires a PowerPC-based Macintosh with Mac OS 8.1 or later. The program is a 12.5 MB download. [ACE]

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