Chapter 23: E-Mail and Newsgroups Using Outlook Express

Should You Use Outlook Express?

If you are a happy user of Eudora, Netscape Messenger, or another e-mail program, Outlook Express doesn't contain any gotta-have features that would make you want to switch. The hassle of importing your messages (which never seem to come through perfectly) isn't worth it. However, if you are a new user who doesn't have a lot of message files, or if you have used other e-mail programs and have been unhappy with them, Outlook Express is worth a try.

The case for using Outlook Express gets a little better with each new version. Outlook Express has a number of advantages: It's free, already installed, and easy to use; it has a nice collection of features for handling e-mail and newsgroups; it lets you import messages and addresses from most other popular e-mail programs; and it works well with Hotmail, Microsoft's free Web-based e-mail provider.

In the past, the main reason not to use Outlook Express was security. Outlook Express 6 includes some new features for handling attachments safely and avoiding spreading e-mail viruses to others. These features help resolve Outlook Express's most obvious security problems. However, the sheer popularity and ubiquity of Outlook Express (along with its cousin Outlook, which is part of Microsoft Office) makes it an inviting target for hackers. The people who write viruses (like the people who write any other kind of software) want to write for the largest possible market, so they target Microsoft products. And the problem is exacerbated by Microsoft itself, which has historically taken a lax attitude toward security.

Our favorite e-mail program, Eudora, is available at http://www.eudora.com. If you use Netscape Navigator as your Web browser, you may want to use its e-mail program, Netscape Messenger, which comes as part of the Netscape Communicator set of programs. See Netscape's Web site at http://home.netscape.com/products.

Windows assumes that Outlook Express is your default e-mail program (the program that runs when another program tells Windows that you want to send e-mail). If you install another e-mail program, its installation program usually asks whether to make it the default e-mail program. If you plan to use it regularly to send and receive e-mail, choose Yes.

For news and tips about Outlook Express, check out Tom Koch's Web site at http://www.tomsterdam.com.