Microsoft Outlook Express
Both Outlook and Outlook
Express handle the basics of Internet mail, including an address book, message
rules, user-created folders, and support for POP3, IMAP, and HTTP mail
accounts. Both were developed by Microsoft and so have a somewhat similar
appearance. Both contain the word “Outlook” in their names. Believe it or not,
that’s just about all they have in common.
The differences
Outlook and Outlook Express were designed by different
programming teams for different audiences with different needs. Outlook Express
was developed as part of Internet Explorer with the home user in mind while
Outlook was developed as part of Microsoft Office with the corporate user in
mind. Outlook Express is a basic Internet mail program that is part of Internet
Explorer and Windows. Outlook is a full-featured personal information manager
that is available as a part of Microsoft Office and also as a stand-alone
program.
Outlook Express handles not only Internet mail but also Internet news, a feature that Outlook does not natively possess. But Outlook has a host of features that Outlook Express does not have, such as a calendar, a task list, a journal, and automatic backup into archive files. The address book in Outlook is a very sophisticated contact management system unlike the simple address book used by Outlook Express. Outlook can be programmed using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) but Outlook Express cannot. Outlook is highly interoperable and so can be used in combination with Word, for example, to perform mail-merge in e-mail or to automate outgoing mail messages. Outlook Express does not interact with other programs in this way except for creating a new mail message when a program requests it.
Outlook also has a very powerful Junk Mail feature which has received high praise and is envied just as highly by many Outlook Express users. In a similar vein, Outlook has message rules for both incoming and outgoing mail, while Outlook Express can only filter incoming. Outlook rules also offer a much wider range of actions than do rules in Outlook Express.
Outlook Express handles not only Internet mail but also Internet news, a feature that Outlook does not natively possess. But Outlook has a host of features that Outlook Express does not have, such as a calendar, a task list, a journal, and automatic backup into archive files. The address book in Outlook is a very sophisticated contact management system unlike the simple address book used by Outlook Express. Outlook can be programmed using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) but Outlook Express cannot. Outlook is highly interoperable and so can be used in combination with Word, for example, to perform mail-merge in e-mail or to automate outgoing mail messages. Outlook Express does not interact with other programs in this way except for creating a new mail message when a program requests it.
Outlook also has a very powerful Junk Mail feature which has received high praise and is envied just as highly by many Outlook Express users. In a similar vein, Outlook has message rules for both incoming and outgoing mail, while Outlook Express can only filter incoming. Outlook rules also offer a much wider range of actions than do rules in Outlook Express.
One important difference
applies to network environments, whether an office intranet or a home network.
Outlook Express was designed for use on a single computer and so its message
store and settings cannot be stored on a server. Outlook however was
tailor-made for networks, and so its message store can be on a central server
that many machines can access. If you need to access your e-mail from more than
one machine on your network, Outlook Express is just not the solution for you.
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