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http://www.zdnet.com.au/newstech/ebusiness...20277192,00.htm



Microsoft kills off Outlook Express

By Angus Kidman, ZDNet Australia
13 August 2003




It might be the world's most widely distributed e-mail client, but Microsoft has confirmed that it has no intention of further developing Outlook Express.

"[Outlook Express] just sits where it is," said Dan Leach, lead product manager for Microsoft's information worker product management group. "The technology doesn't go away, but no new work is being done. It is consumer e-mail in an early iteration, and our investment in the consumer space is now focused around Hotmail and MSN. That's where we're putting the emphasis in terms of new investment and new development work."

While Outlook Express has always been most popular with individual consumers, many business users have also utilised it, in part because it is part of the default Windows install. Microsoft executives are hoping those users will now switch to the full-blown Outlook client (and pay for an Office licence in the process).

"IMAP is just not a very rich protocol," Steve Conn, Exchange Server product manager, told ZDNet Australia during the company's Tech Ed conference. "The great majority of people used Outlook Express because they weren't on a LAN environment, and Outlook was just too fat for them."

The currently-in-beta Outlook 2003 client has much lower bandwidth requirements, he said. In May, Microsoft revealed that it was no longer planning to release standalone versions of Internet Explorer, which includes the Outlook Express functionality. Future releases will only be made available as part of the Windows platform.

Angus Kidman travelled to Tech Ed as a guest of Microsoft.


I don't use Outlook Express, but this is still bad news. Of course, with no more standalone IE versions being release, it was expected that Outlook Express would be the same way.

With time, Thunderbird will be a great alternative. Right now, it's still a bit too slow and bulky for my tastes... It's a standalone version of Mozilla Mail.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11645

Hmm that's a funny move by MS. Notice how they are slowly dropping stuff? I have a feeling they have something planed, something that won't be too good. Might be wrong but I just get that impression.

But I use mozilla mail and I like it. But what I like about OE is that I can hotlink images, so it makes great email trackers.




"The word around the street is that Red Squirrel once dated an octopus."

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11646

Red Squirrel wrote: Hmm that's a funny move by MS. Notice how they are slowly dropping stuff? I have a feeling they have something planed, something that won't be too good. Might be wrong but I just get that impression.

I think they want everyone to upgrade to their upcoming OS.


Why would I need an IE 7.0? The really bad thing about this is that even if Microsoft adds better CSS support or something like that to IE, it will only be on those newer operating systems.

I think more and more people will be looking at alternatives. At least, I hope so.

But what I like about OE is that I can hotlink images, so it makes great email trackers.

Red, you can hotlink images in Mozilla Mail too if you have the format set to HTML....

"The word around the street is that Red Squirrel once dated an octopus."

I just figured it was a good time to start something.... Good thing you didn't stay with her though. Half squirrel / half octopus children would look sort of scary....

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11647

No I tried hotlinking but it just downloads it and it embeds it. It was even saying in the status bar "embedding iceteks.com/security... etc" when I tried it. Oh well, next time I need one of these I can just use Outlook.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11649

Microsoft is trying to brute force consumers into paying for outlook and XPLonghorn, that's all it is, and it's nothing new. Consumers have been becomng increasingly aware that they don't need the "new features" of the latest software, and that older versions get the job done just fine, and this is a problem in the eyes of microsoft. This is most likey true in particular with Outlook. Very few need the kind of email functionality Outlook provides - much like all the other office applications, except there is no MS Word Lite or Excell Express. So why bother with some bulky expensive piece of software when the client that comes with you OS does everything you need?

Microsoft has already put a lock on the business market to upgrade by refusing to support just about anything other than the "latest and greatest", now they're trying to push the consumer market into upgrading by removing pervious versions from any kind of development, essentially pay for a pricey upgrade or get left behind.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11651

Yep, so true. I remember when they were talking about making it a "subscription" where it expires after some time and you are forced to buy a newer version of the OS unless you keep changing your clock.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11655

I remember that. They were originally planning on Office XP a subscription service. Which probably wouldn't be too bad for businesses [they're paying out the bunghole for the software anyway, might as well get some guarantees on what they are getting] But it's not cost effective for consumers or small businesses at all. MS realized this and pulled the subsciption out before releasing the final product I think.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11660

I still use my Outlook Express and other such e-mail clients. I've used Outlook, but it doesn't seem to have exactly the same feel as OE.

Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11663

i use outlook express i dont like outlook as it does not really do as much as outlook express.

and i am not in need of that big software program.

but this idea of forceing users to buy new programs with a lot of crap on that we dont need or want will back fire on MS.

but I believe that they are trying to get rid of all the old software as it has a lot of holes in it and is able to make files from copyrighted media, and knowing that MS is trying to get the entire world to use wma or wmv formats cause they require a lic. if the wma or wmv file is made with the copyright protection turned on.

and that is what the riaa and movie studios want. so if MS can get us all to have to use their format then they can get more money from the riaa and the movie studios, because they are then the only safe software that can be used for distrubting the songs and movies.


it is another way to take control of the people and ruin the USA. and other free nations.

I got news for them all if push comes to shuve I will toss all the computers in the lake and go back to pen and paper no need to have all this stuff. it is only a nice to have and use item. not a need to have one.





Archived topic from Iceteks, old topic ID:1327, old post ID:11668