Outlook Express: Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Why did you change the name of Internet Mail
and News to Outlook Express?
A. While the name Internet Mail and News made sense for the functionality we shipped as
part of IE3 the choice of Outlook Express reflects both the increased functionality of the
Outlook Express product and the tight integration with and scalability to Microsoft's other
email offerings. The name allows customers who want a broader range of features to easily
identify and understand the natural migration path from Outlook Express to Microsoft Outlook 97.
Q. What was Athena?
A. Athena was the code name for Outlook Express.
Q. What's new in Outlook Express?
A. Outlook Express combines ease of use with tight integration and powerful functionality to give you the best dial-up Internet mail and news client. The new functionality available in Outlook Express along with its tight integration with IE 4.0 makes Outlook Express the best Internet mail and news client for home and small business users. Some of the top new features in Outlook Express include HTML mail, a simple user interface, customizable toolbars, rich address book functionality, powerful inbox rules, enhanced offline support, access to multiple email accounts and support for Internet standards such as POP3, SMTP, NNTP, IMAP and LDAP.
Q. What Internet Standards does Outlook Express support?
A. Outlook Express supports the following Internet standards:
- MIME—which provides support for richer email than just plain text and attachments
- SMTP/POP3—the leading Internet message transport mechanism
- HTML and MHTML—for rich HTML content in mail
- IMAP4—the next generation standard for email messaging which among other things allows users to access their mail from any machine on the network by allowing messages to be stored on the server
- S/MIME—for secure mail which allows users to digitally sign and encrypt messages
- LDAP—for directory lookups
- NNTP—for News
Q. Can I import and export address books and message stores in Outlook Express?
A. Yes. Outlook Express contains tools to make it easy to import Eudora, Netscape, Exchange and Internet Mail and News address books and message stores. Users can also easily export data from Outlook Express to Microsoft Outlook 97.
Q. When do I use Outlook Express vs. Microsoft Outlook 97?
A. Email clients such as Outlook Express provide users with a starting point. Outlook Express is designed for Internet mail users who require basic core email functionality. Typically these users receive a smaller volume of mail and are home or small business users. Microsoft Outlook 97 is designed for people who require more than core email functionality. It provides functionality beyond basic email and includes tools for scheduling, task management and journaling, typically needed in business and enterprise workgroup environments.
Q. How does Outlook Express integrate with Microsoft Outlook 97?
A. Users who decide they want a more powerful set of e-mail tools can upgrade to Microsoft Outlook 97. Both Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook 97 have been designed to make it easy for users to migrate their mail stores and address books. This way users can begin their email experience in Outlook Express and then easily move up to Outlook 97 when they need to take advantage of Outlook's greater depth of functionality.
Q. Will there be Mac and Win 3.11 versions of Outlook Express?
A. Outlook Express will be available for both Mac and Win 3.11. On each of these platforms Outlook Express will take advantage of platform specific strengths. For example, the Mac version will feel like a Mac app even though it shares a consistent UI with the 32 bit version. As a result of this optimization, it is possible that there will be some feature differences between the various platform releases.
©1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Legal Notices.
Last Updated: February 10, 1997
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