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Some facts of early 21st Century life with MS Windows:

• Windows Vista:

The default Mail Client in Vista is Windows Mail. While Outlook Express (OE) cannot be installed or run in Vista, you can import the OE data backup from a WinXP or Win2K machine into Windows Mail (see below). While Windows Mail does not include OE's identity feature, you can add this functionality if you're used to it (see below).

If you're upgrading a machine from, e.g., WinXP to Vista, see http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Window ... 01033.mspx

• Windows 7:

The next-generation Windows version, named Windows 7, will not include a default Mail Client (or many other applications included in WinXP and Vista; cf. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10048142-56.html). Of course, you will be able to install, e.g., MS Outlook or Thunderbird (one presumes), and use it as your default Mail Client.

• Windows Live:

The many applications & online functionalities offered by Microsoft's fairly new Windows Live initiative (http://www.windowslive.com) include Windows Live Hotmail's new interface and Windows Live Mail, originally named Windows Live Mail Desktop during the first beta. [Yes, the names are confusing.]

Windows Live Mail can be installed in WinXP SP2/SP3, Vista, and Windows 7. With Windows Live Mail installed, you will be able to access most mail accounts (e.g., name@verizon.net; name@comcast.net; name@hotmail.com; name@aol.com) as well as NNTP newsgroups (e.g., microsoft.public.outlookexpress.general).

References:

HOW TO Back-up OE Data
http://www.insideoe.com/backup/
http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

HOW TO Back-up your Address Book for importing into Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, or OE
Open Address Book | File | Export | Address Book (WAB) | Save the resulting WAB file in an appropriate location.

HOW TO Back-up your OE Mail & News Account for importing into Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, or OE
Tools | Accounts | All (tab) | select (highlight) each account, in turn | Export | Save the resulting IAF file in an appropriate location.

IAF files exported from Windows Live Mail cannot be imported into Windows Mail, at least currently.

HOW TO import your OE folder back-ups into Windows Mail
See the section "Windows Mail > Importing from Outlook Express" here: http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

Vista Help's section on importing OE data into Windows Mail does not work properly for most users; cf. http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Window ... f1033.mspx

Similarly, many Vista users have not been successful using Vista's Easy Transfer to transfer their OE data into Windows Mail; cf. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928635

HOW TO add Identities to Windows Mail (US$14.95)
http://www.oehelp.com/WMIDs/Default.aspx

Commonly Used Abbreviations

Outlook Express => OE
Windows Mail => WMail; WinMail
Windows Live Mail => WLMail
Windows Live Hotmail => WLHotmail or just plain ol' Hotmail
Outlook => OL

MS Newsgroups: Peer-to-Peer Support for Mail Clients (via NNTP)
(Click on the link to open the newsgroup in your default newsreader)

OE => news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.p ... ss.general
WinMail => news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.p ... vista.mail
WLMail => news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.p ... il.desktop
Hotmail => news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.p ... ernet.mail
OL => news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.p ... ok.general

More => http://aumha.org/nntp.htm (last updated 14 February 2007)

HOW TO Set up Outlook Express to access Microsoft newsgroups
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlo ... reader.htm

Accessing the MS newsgroups in Outlook Express Newsreader
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expe ... setup.mspx

HOW TO Set up Windows Mail (Vista) to access Microsoft newsgroups
http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/micro ... dows-mail/