What email do you use?

[Ian S]

What do you all use for email? How do you use it? How many email addresses do you have?

I still have Windows XP and Outlook Express. But XP is being killed off in April and OE with it.

I use POP3 and have between 5 and 10 emails addresses at the moment.

I don't so far use web-mail or collect it on a telephone. I expect that may have to change as 'normal' POP3 email seems to be dying off.

Spent the last two or three day evening and nights looking for an alternative to Outlook Express but seems to not be one.

Personal reviews say Thunderbird went wrong at version 15 a couple of years ago and has got worse since and their website say it's now abandoned. Eudora, Opera, and it seems there are about 100 email clients, all severely criticised.

Hotmail/Outlook, Yahoo and GMail also severely criticised.

Is there a way to cut OE out of XP and use it on it's own with Win7?

Thanks.

[Alex]

I recently set up a new email address having had my old one for over a decade. It was a pain having to go to the Orange wesbite and log in to check them. Very time consuming. My new address is a gmail one. I can check it on my phone or log in via the web easily. I can't really say anything bad about it.

[Ian S]

How do you know you've received an email? Or do you not, until you log in to see?

[robx1r]

generally all android based smart phones have gmail and you'd get a notifications at set peroids from every 5 min to every hour

[Alex]

How do you know you've received an email? Or do you not, until you log in to see?

I get an alert on my phone. Obviously you'd need a phone/device to receive such a message.

[Trevhib]

Outlook (i.e. what used to be Hotmail), is a reasonable webmail facility Ian. Although I've been struggling to work out how to add aliases from/to which I can both send and receive.

Once you are set up online, if you have a smartphone, it's a pretty simple process of getting your emails to sent to it. I have both hotmail and gmail come through to my phone.

Btw, what does this mean - "But XP is being killed off in April and OE with it."

I thought MS stopped supporting/updating XP a while ago?

[Big Supes]

outlook.com

It's got MS Office and free storage via the cloud (Skydrive). Works a treat.

[DaveL485]

XP? It's over 12 years old, maybe consider an upgrade?

The new browser based Outlook is very good. I use the 2013 client day to day but when I check in (not from my work laptop) it's good looking, smooth and easy to use.

[Ian S]

http://www.netmarketshare.com/operat...10&qpcustomd=0

31% of the world still use XP according to this, as of Oct 2013.

I read last week that, IIRC, 77,000 PC's of the French Police just moved over to Linux from XP.

Every time I use Win 7 it seems a down grade from XP, especially explorer, that really is a crock of sh1t in a lot of opinion including mine. Yes there are some better bits but they could have improved XP instead.

So, people here vouch for the new Hotmail/Outlook. I read only bad reviews of it last night from long term Hotmail users. Thanks for the advice. I don't have a smart phone and have no real need for one at this time. Nor the spare monthly money. Though I have been comparing cost vs. benefits of stopping the land line and going mobile only but it means a change to Virgin Media and still finding another £10 or so a month.

[DaveL485]

http://www.netmarketshare.com/operat...10&qpcustomd=0

31% of the world still use XP according to this, as of Oct 2013.

I read last week that, IIRC, 77,000 PC's of the French Police just moved over to Linux from XP.

Every time I use Win 7 it seems a down grade from XP, especially explorer, that really is a crock of sh1t in a lot of opinion including mine. Yes there are some better bits but they could have improved XP instead.

IE is a total crock, I can't stand it either. Chrome is way better.

Win7 is pretty good once you get into it (IMO). Vista was the epic fail. Surely anyone still on XP is a security risk...stats are, however, unsurprising

[Ian S]

Security risk, yes after April next year when MS stops supporting XP. Experts claim that after then, when MS released security fixes for later OS's, the bad guys will reverse engineer them to discover the weakness to exploit, as they do, but apply them to XP and be successful. So I'm moving to Win7.

I meant Windows Explorer, I can't use it, not without breaking into mechanics language a lot and my hand hurt for a day or two after I was forced to bang it into something solid due to the stress level. There a lot of people who feel that way and some of them apparently did something out it. Just reading about some replacements, one mentioned File Manager, the thing they downgraded to Windows Explorer from. I've used Firefox since it started with tabbed browsing, about IE6 time. Tried Chrome, I usually have a lot of tabs open so it didn't work for me.

[Ian S]

"According to Gartner, the global installed base of PCs at the end of 2013 will be 1.63 billion units. By that reckoning, Windows XP is currently installed on at least 500 million computers and almost certainly used by over a billion people."

The car industry would love to do the same as Microsoft and simply switch off all the old cars and make everyone buy a new one. Just as well they can't, eh!

[andybond]

Windows xp is great due yo it's software maturity. It's also it Achilles heel.

As a so called power user I cannot fault windows seven. It's a significant and worthwhile upgrade. The nay Sayers will be the same ones that moaned when black and white tele went to color.

FWIW outlook web access accounts work well. I use outlook full fat personally.

[Ian S]

Andy, does full Outlook and Web Outlook integrate or are they separate?

I've been trying "Full Fat" Outlook again. Used it on and off over the last 10 or 15 years or so but didn't need the mass of functions. Back then it just clogged the PC. I only needed Outlook Express. The last few times I used Outlook I thought that for email it was cluttered, bloated and excessive and slower to use. But at lest it's still there and will do most of the things in a similar way. If only I could cut away all the excess that it's baggaged with and turn into Outlook Express. It all in the name really, 'Express', Outlook is a super tanker freighter with sleeper cartridges and a buffet.

I have only Outlook 2003 and it seems to be playing up a bit with this Win7 install and I'm not making much sense of it really, too many functions. I got it to send a receive but it also was failing to when OE does it just fine with the same settings.

I expect like a lot of people I'd have had Win 8 the day it came out of it came with the XP or Classic GUI, XP or better Windows Explorer, etc, and no metro or secret corners, etc, garbage in anyway at all. I want the latest and best but not the MS utter garbage buffoonery with the user interface and controls. And I need the comparability with all my software. And also like a lot of people I am not about to unload a shed full of cash to yet again replace the fully working software I already have so I can carry on doing the varied stuff I do.

I just fitted Classic Shell. That's fixed some of the problems I was having with the Win 7 explorer and Start menu. I think it needs more tweaking but it's a step forward.

[Coops]

I infinitely prefer 7/8 to XP, primarily due to the search functionaility. anything you want to find you just press the windows key on the keyboard and start typing and it finds it pretty much instantly.

as for email, I have 3 main ones I use, and I've always used browser accessed ones, the oldest I've had for 13 years now is my yahoo account and its been faultless for the entire time.

same as most as well, I have the app on my phone that alerts me when I have email and I can either read it on the phone or wait till i'm on the pc if its an important one I want a proper keyboard to use to respond

[Ian S]

So I presume when you read the email on the phone it remains on the server rather than downloading? Do they cull them after a time of size?

At home do you then download them or just log on through a browser and again view and reply by remote connection?

If I want to look back through the last few of years of emails (6000 in Inbox, 6000 in Sent and I don't how many all those folders) for a specific one, is that quick and easy to do on their server like it is with them on my PC?

I have 136 extra email folders, just had a quick count, I thought it was about 50!! I'm organised and I don't need a search Well sometimes I do. But is that level of organisation possible and easy and quick with these webmails?

Thanks.

Just checked the 'Deleted' folder. 7200. That's in just over 7 months. So 250 emails a week. Plus the saved ones.

[Trevhib]

Ian, if you're already sure you're not going to get a smart phone then don't worry about what they do and don't do with your emails.

But to answer your question, the email in PC browser-based Outlook stays in your account on their server for as long as you don't delete it. Your smartphone sees that you've had an email and downloads a copy to the device's inbox. If you were to delete that email from your device, that does not delete the original in your Outlook account online.

That said, it is possible to actually manage your Outlook online account from your smartphone's internet browser (or by using your mail provider's dedicated app).

As for XP, I can understand why you like it, don't want to change and resent having to. However, it's likely you will have no choice but to stay on XP and accept the security risks, or move to an OS that is currently supported.

Incidentally, Google Chrome is an absolutely fantastic browser. Get it, install 'AdBlock', get used to it and away you go. It does support multiple tabs, in fact the tabs are so versatile, it's brilliant.

Edit - Speaking to an IT-savvy mate of mine. He is arguing that a secure modern browser on XP will be fine for some years to come, if allied to a cautious approach to 3rd party s/w installation and if the PC is operating behind a good router.

[andybond]

But to answer your question, the email in PC browser-based Outlook stays in your account on their server for as long as you don't delete it. Your smartphone sees that you've had an email and downloads a copy to the device's inbox. If you were to delete that email from your device, that does not delete the original in your Outlook account online.

You need to be a little careful with that. It only normally happens that way on a IMAP / POP account. Some of the newer ones synchronise. Having said that there is normally an option to sync or not.

[andybond]

Andy, does full Outlook and Web Outlook integrate or are they separate?

the short answer is it depends on what you mail host provides.

Some mail hosts dont have OWA ( outlook web access ) others do.

Windows Seven doesnt come with a native mail client , but MS do provide one for free. See here for the Windows 7 essentials.

I might add that there are several tools to make seven look and feel like XP. Items such as classic shell ( which s free ) are a good start.

[Dave Reed]

Erm does it count I know how to turn a computer on lol

[Big Supes]

IE is a total crock, I can't stand it either. Chrome is way better.

Win7 is pretty good once you get into it (IMO). Vista was the epic fail. Surely anyone still on XP is a security risk...stats are, however, unsurprising

Chrome is good, but I don't want Google data mining my every move.

[andybond]

Chrome is good, but I don't want Google data mining my every move.

As most MS data leaves the UK to goto the states your data will be harvested over there anyway.

Nowt to hide , no worry ..

[Trevhib]

You need to be a little careful with that. It only normally happens that way on a IMAP / POP account. Some of the newer ones synchronise. Having said that there is normally an option to sync or not.

Noted.

My HTC Desire HD is 3yrs old now so I'm not up with the latest stuff. It's so easy to fall behind! As it happens, this phone has been nothing short of utterly fantastic. I have no intention of changing for at least another year.

[Big Supes]

As most MS data leaves the UK to goto the states your data will be harvested over there anyway.

Nowt to hide , no worry ..

MS's privacy terms & conditions differ immensely compared to Google. Google have hacked into people's home Wifi, hacked IE to change default privacy settings from closed to open and openly admit to scanning emails from Gmail. They generally data mine the crap out of their users via all of their tools to hand: youtube, gmail, google. It's no wonder why they're so determined to push their crappy Google + on to people. It's an Ad agency's wet dream.

[DaveL485]

So I presume when you read the email on the phone it remains on the server rather than downloading? Do they cull them after a time of size?

At home do you then download them or just log on through a browser and again view and reply by remote connection?

If I want to look back through the last few of years of emails (6000 in Inbox, 6000 in Sent and I don't how many all those folders) for a specific one, is that quick and easy to do on their server like it is with them on my PC?

I have 136 extra email folders, just had a quick count, I thought it was about 50!! I'm organised and I don't need a search Well sometimes I do. But is that level of organisation possible and easy and quick with these webmails?

Thanks.

Just checked the 'Deleted' folder. 7200. That's in just over 7 months. So 250 emails a week. Plus the saved ones.

If you use an account with OWA as well as client access you can store recent stuff on the server and archive off older stuff to a local drive so you dont breach storage limits. I get up to 200 emails a day (yeah...a DAY!) at work, so I archive off everything over a month old so I dont breach my 5gb exchange server limit.

My exchange server inbox, sentbox and associated subfolders hover around a total of a thousand emails after deleting all the stuff I don't need, and so load very quickly too. my archives however are 52,392 inbox, 25,345 sentbox and another 10,000 or so in the subfolders. I only access that if I need to...even with 8-cores and a stack of RAM it takes some chewing over by the PC

I also then back up the archive file (.pst file) by copying it to an external drive with the rest of my work backup. It's about 25gb alone should the computer fail then, the current exchange account just sync's back to outlook and the .pst file imports very easily.

The only Caveat is that you can't access the archive from the OWA....thats exchange server data only.

[andybond]

If you use an account with OWA as well as client access you can store recent stuff on the server and archive off older stuff to a local drive so you dont breach storage limits. I get up to 200 emails a day (yeah...a DAY!) at work, so I archive off everything over a month old so I dont breach my 5gb exchange server limit.

My exchange server inbox, sentbox and associated subfolders hover around a total of a thousand emails after deleting all the stuff I don't need, and so load very quickly too. my archives however are 52,392 inbox, 25,345 sentbox and another 10,000 or so in the subfolders. I only access that if I need to...even with 8-cores and a stack of RAM it takes some chewing over by the PC

I also then back up the archive file (.pst file) by copying it to an external drive with the rest of my work backup. It's about 25gb alone should the computer fail then, the current exchange account just sync's back to outlook and the .pst file imports very easily.

The only Caveat is that you can't access the archive from the OWA....thats exchange server data only.

Recommend to your IT dept that they goto the office365 cloud service. 25GB for standard buisness and 50gb for big players. I suspect your guys might qualify

[andybond]

MS's privacy terms & conditions differ immensely compared to Google. Google have hacked into people's home Wifi, hacked IE to change default privacy settings from closed to open and openly admit to scanning emails from Gmail. They generally data mine the crap out of their users via all of their tools to hand: youtube, gmail, google. It's no wonder why they're so determined to push their crappy Google + on to people. It's an Ad agency's wet dream.

This is true. But just because the T+C differ doesnt mean they adhere to it. US privacy laws are very different to the UK ones.

[Woznaldo]

Once you go Mac, you never go back!

[Ian S]

For basic use with Apple software maybe it's fine but the more adventurous / demanding have to use the platform with all the third party hard and software. I have a 10 button mouse, will that work with Apple? And then there's the price, a pal paid maybe £1500 for an Apple all in one monitor an PC and he can't play mkv film and TV files which was partly why he bought it.

I send 3D to my telly and the desktop to the 23" monitor in dual monitor mode and have a high quality sound card and play music from it to the high quality Hi-Fi. I'm now trying to build up the replacement PC with a PCI SSD, so silence at last as well as a few second boot time from a 5 year old motherboard and CPU that cost £40 for both.

I got outlook Express running in Win 7 virtual XP mode, does seem to work but can take up a lot of PC resources and it won't light a 'received mail' notification in the system tray, only in the virtual window, which is minimised. And so far won't keep the email passwords, asks for them every time I send / receive.

Going to try Windows live mail and see if it's as terrible as so many reviews say.

• Win Outlook; very complicated, uses Word to compose, very slow and difficult to use. No contact list on the page. Expensive to buy, mine is 2003 and not supported. Won't import the OE mail or wab.
• Windows Live mail = no probably; separate set of folders for each separate mail account. Masses of severe criticism from everywhere.
• Incredimail = no; can't export mail out of it. Some reviews said it's UI is for children.
• Thunderbird = no; abandoned. And after v15 they took the design in a not liked direction, users moved away, maybe faulty with Win7.
• OE Classic = no; tiny and with no support, one man company? Said to be in alpha form, net even worth calling it a beta.
• EM Client = no; only two send and three receive email accounts allowed, even the $50 'Pro' version is the same apparently.
• Foxmail = no; too Chinese. Doesn't word wrap in English.
• Evolution mail = no; flaky, buggy, faulty, undeveloped, fails all the time, unconfigurable, about 65 reviews gave it one star out of 5.
• Pegasus = no; too confusing and very slow and awkward to set up and use. Buggy. Crap UI. Prefers IMAP. Need Revo-uninstall to remove it. And even then it's left residue around.

[Phoenix Autosport]

The car industry would love to do the same as Microsoft and simply switch off all the old cars and make everyone buy a new one. Just as well they can't, eh!

you were saying
http://www.plugincars.com/renault-zo...er-128891.html