Windows 95 included a mail client program called Microsoft Exchange that Microsoft later renamed Windows Messaging to differentiate the client program included with Windows 95 from its Windows NT-based Exchange Server product. Windows Messaging serves as an e-mail client for Microsoft Mail, Internet Mail, and CompuServe Mail. It also offers the capability to send and receive faxes.
Windows 98 replaces the Exchange client with a new program called Outlook Express that adds considerable new functionality. One good example is Outlook Express's capability to handle multiple e-mail accounts. With a single
click you can send and receive messages through as many e-mail accounts as you like without having to switch any settings. Outlook Express also supports rules to enable you to filter and process your messages. These two features alone make it an attractive alternative to other e-mail applications.
This chapter explores Outlook Express, covering the following topics:
Windows 98 does not install Outlook Express by default, so you must install it either as an option with Internet Explorer or by itself. Before installing Outlook Express you should understand its capabilities. The following section provides an overview of Outlook Express.
For many people, e-mail is an important, if not time-consuming, aspect of each day. Some people have not one e-mail account, but two or even several. You might have an e-mail account at work and a private e-mail account that you access through your Internet service provider (ISP) from home. Keeping track of messages in one account can be a chore. When you add multiple e-mail accounts, newsgroups, and directory services to the resources you work with on a regular basis, keeping track of all of them can be a real headache.
One of the primary advantages to using Outlook Express is its integration of most of your messaging services into a single interface. You can include your Internet e-mail, newsgroups, and directory services in a single program. Better yet, Outlook Express enables you to maintain and process multiple e-mail accounts with a single Inbox folder. You no longer have to use separate e-mail programs for your various e-mail accounts. Figure 20.1 shows the Outlook Express interface.
FIGURE 20.1 Outlook Express integrates e-mail, newsgroup, and directory service capability into a single interface.
Outlook Express is geared toward serving primarily as an e-mail client for Internet mail through its support for Internet mail standards such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), and Internet Mail Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4). If your local area network (LAN) contains a mail server that supports these Internet standards, however, Outlook Express can function as your LAN e-mail client. The advantage of using such a server is that it can process external Internet e-mail as well as local, in-house e-mail, all using a single client--Outlook Express.
NOTE: Currently, Outlook Express does not support Microsoft Fax, the Fax send/receive program included with Windows 98. Microsoft Fax requires that Windows Messaging, Microsoft Exchange client, or Microsoft Outlook (included with Microsoft Office) be installed on the client computer.
Integration is just one of Outlook Express's many important features. The following list summarizes several key features in Outlook Express:
These are just some of Outlook Express's key features. In addition, the program provides many additional features that make it an excellent e-mail and newsgroup client. The following sections explain how to install Outlook Express and use many of these key features.
TIP: You can view additional information about Outlook Express by visiting the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/products. Choose Outlook Express from the list of products to jump to the Outlook Express pages.
Depending on the options you select when you install Windows 98, Setup can automatically install the Internet Explorer interface along with Outlook Express. If you need to install Outlook Express manually, you can do so through the Control Panel. The following steps explain the process:
TIP: If you intend to store your messages in a home folder on a network file server, establish the connection to the file server prior to running Outlook Express for the first time. Part of the configuration process for Outlook Express is to specify the location of your message files.
After Outlook Express is installed, an icon for the program appears in the Taskbar near the Start menu. The icon shows an Explorer "E" with a small envelope below it. Clicking on the icon launches Outlook Express. If you prefer to use the Start menu to launch Outlook Express, choose Start | Internet Explorer | Outlook Express.
The first time you run Outlook Express, the program displays a wizard to help you configure a connection to the Internet. As you can see in Figure 20.2, you have three options: locate an ISP, configure the computer for an existing account, or use an account already established on your computer.
FIGURE 20.2 The Internet Connection Wizard helps you establish or choose an Internet account for Outlook Express.
Choosing the first option will cause the wizard to dial a toll-free number to locate ISPs that either have a local access number in your area or that offer toll-free access to the Internet. The wizard will help you through the process of establishing the necessary account.
The second and third options the wizard provides apply if you already have an Internet account through your employer or an ISP. Choose the second option if you have an account but have not set up the necessary Dial-Up Networking connection on your computer to access the account. Choose the third option if you have already configured and tested the Dial-Up Networking connection on the computer for your Internet account.
After you specify the Internet connection for Outlook Express to use, Outlook Express prompts you to specify the location in which to store your messages files. Choose the desired folder (including a home folder on a network server, if you wish) and click OK. When Outlook Express starts, it displays what essentially is a Web page (see Figure 20.3) that gives you quick access to most of the resources in Outlook Express, including the Inbox, newsgroups, address book, and directory.
If you prefer, you can configure Outlook Express to go directly to your Inbox on startup. Choose Tools | Options and place a check in the check box labeled When Starting Go Directly to My Inbox Folder.
As mentioned previously, you can use Outlook Express to manage multiple e-mail accounts. The first step in using Outlook Express as your e-mail client, whether for one or many e-mail accounts, is to create the account(s) in Outlook Express. This section explains how to create and configure e-mail accounts in Outlook Express.
FIGURE 20.3 Outlook Express uses a Web page as its startup page, giving you access to most features.
NOTE: The term account in this section refers to a collection of named settings in Outlook Express that enable you to connect to and use a specific Internet mail service. The term does not refer to your actual e-mail accounts that are located on their respective mail servers. You cannot create or manage a mail account located on a mail server. Instead, you create the group of settings that enable you to use that mail account.
To create or manage your existing accounts, choose Tools | Accounts to open the Internet Accounts property sheet (see Figure 20.4). This property sheet gives you access to Mail, News, and Directory Service account settings.
FIGURE 20.4 Use the Internet Accounts property sheet to create and manage account settings.
To create or manage e-mail accounts, click on the Mail tab to display the Mail property page (see Figure 20.5). This page lists all existing account settings and enables you to you create new accounts or manage the existing ones.
FIGURE 20.5 Create and manage e-mail accounts through the Mail properties page.
To create a new e-mail account, choose Add | Mail. Outlook Express starts a wizard to help automate the process of creating the mail account. Through its various pages the wizard prompts for the following information:
After you complete the steps in the wizard, the account name you selected will show up on the Mail page of the Internet Accounts Properties sheet.
If you need to review or change settings for your e-mail account(s), choose Tools | Accounts, then click on the Mail tab to display the Mail property page. Select the account you want to view or change and click on Properties. You'll see a property sheet similar to the one shown in Figure 20.6.
NOTE: Many of the settings on the property pages for an e-mail account are self-explanatory. This section examines some features that might not be as obvious to you.
FIGURE 20.6 Use the account property sheet to change settings for the account.
The General page shown in Figure 20.6 provides general information about your e-mail account. If you want to use a reply address that is different from the address you use to send mail, specify the reply address in the Reply address field in the form user@domain.com. If you want Outlook Express to automatically check mail through this account when you click the Send and Receive toolbar button or choose Tools | Send and Receive | All Accounts, place a check in the check box labeled Include this account when doing a full Send and Receive.
The Servers page (see Figure 20.7) stores information about the e-mail server associated with the account. In addition to specifying the name or IP address of the incoming and outgoing mail servers, the Servers page also enables you to specify your mail account name, password, and authentication method.
FIGURE 20.7 Specify mail server and account settings with the Servers page.
The Connection page (see Figure 20.8) contains the settings that define the way Outlook Express should connect to the Internet to access the account. Note that if you use Windows 98's Dial-Up Networking to connect to the Internet, the option Connect using my phone line is the correct option to choose. Choose the option labeled Connect Using Internet Explorer's or a 3rd Party Dialer if you use a modem to connect to the Internet but do not use Dial-Up Networking. If you choose the Connect using my phone line option, specify the Dial-Up Networking connection to use in the Modem control group.
FIGURE 20.8 Specify how to connect to the server from the Connection page.
The Security page (see Figure 20.9) contains settings that enable you to use digital IDs with your e-mail messages. Digital IDs (also called certificates) provide a mechanism for ensuring that someone else can't send e-mail that appears to have come from you when it did not. Digital IDs consist of a public key, a private key, and digital signature. These digital IDs enable the recipient of a message to ensure that the message was actually sent by the person named and that the message has not been tampered with. For more information on using digital IDs, refer to the section "Using Security" later in this chapter.
The Advanced property page (see Figure 20.10) contains settings that specify certain server characteristics and determine how messages are handled on the mail server.
FIGURE 20.9 Use the Security page to specify digital ID (certificate) settings for secure and encrypted e-mail.
FIGURE 20.10 Use the Advanced page to specify advanced server and message options.
The following list explains the settings on the Advanced property page:
If you maintain multiple e-mail accounts in Outlook Express, one must be the default account. The only real significance of the default account is that it is used as the account through which you send your outgoing mail. To specify which account to use for outgoing mail, select the account on the Mail page of the Internet Accounts property sheet; then click the Set as Default button.
TIP: If you want to send mail through a different mail server from your default account, temporarily set the desired account as the default account.
In addition to serving as an e-mail client, Outlook Express also serves as a newsgroup reader. Newsgroups are publicly available discussion forums that cover a staggering range of topics. Currently, roughly 30,000 different newsgroups exist within the framework of the Internet. Messages can include binary files, and several newsgroups cater to the exchange of images, applications, and other binary types of data. Outlook Express enables you to read messages from the newsgroups and post your own messages to them, including accessing these binary attachments.
Configuring a news account is even easier than setting up an e-mail account because it involves fewer steps and options. The following section explains how.
Outlook Express provides a wizard to help you configure a news account. To create an account, choose Tools | Accounts to display the Internet Accounts property sheet. Click on the News tab to display the News property page. Then choose Add | News to start the Internet Connection Wizard to create a news account.
Through the wizard, Outlook Express will prompt you to provide the following information:
After you create a news account, you can modify the settings as needed. To do so choose Tools | Accounts. Click on the News tab in the Internet Accounts property sheet to display your news accounts. Select the account you want to modify and click Properties to display its property sheet. The settings on the General, Server, and Connection pages are explained in the previous section. The Advanced page (see Figure 20.11) enables you to specify a few advanced settings for the news server.
FIGURE 20.11 Use the Advanced page to set timeout criteria and other advanced features.
The following list describes the settings on the Advanced property page:
In addition to providing e-mail and newsgroup support, Outlook Express enables you to retrieve information from directory servers. These directory servers typically offer the capability to look up names, e-mail addresses, and other personal information. If you have someone's e-mail address but not their name, you can use a directory service to find their name, provided they are listed in the directory.
Many mail servers are now supporting directory searches, which makes the personal information associated with a mail account available to anyone who has access to that mail server. Depending on how the directory service is configured, accessing the directory can require that you supply a user name and password to log onto the directory service to retrieve information from it. This helps prevent just anyone from accessing internal office or address information to which they are not authorized. Other directory services are by their nature public and freely accessible, just like the telephone book.
As with e-mail and news accounts, Outlook Express uses a wizard to help you create a directory service account. To create an account, choose Tools | Accounts to open the Internet Accounts property sheet, then click on the Directory Service tab. Choose Add | Directory Service to start the wizard, which will prompt you for the following information:
Directory Service accounts offer a few advanced settings that you can modify to control the way the account works. To change these settings, choose Tools | Accounts, and click on the Directory Service tab. Select the account you want to modify and click on Properties to display its property sheet. Click on the Advanced tab to display the Advanced page (see Figure 20.12).
FIGURE 20.12 Use the Advanced page to specify extra Directory Service account settings.
The following list summarizes the settings on the Advanced page:
A directory server can be a real help when you know the domain a person uses for his or her e-mail but don't know the specific address. With the directory server you can search the domain using the person's name to determine his or her e-mail address. Or if you know the person's e-mail address, you can find his or her name.
To use the directory, first create a directory account for the directory server as described in the previous section. Then follow these steps to look up an entry in the directory:
If you don't know a person's full name or are unsure how the name is listed in the directory server, enter the last name. The directory server will return all addresses that are associated with the specified name.
Using Outlook Express to send and receive e-mail messages and to read and post newsgroup articles is a simple enough process that you should have no trouble figuring out those tasks, particularly if you have used any other e-mail or newsgroup client. This section of the chapter focuses on many of the more advanced or unique features in Outlook Express.
Although most e-mail is static, dry text, it doesn't have to be so. You can choose the type of font properties to use for your messages. You also can use a feature in Outlook Express called stationery to jazz up your e-mail and newsgroup messages. Stationery enables you to apply specific font characteristics to your messages as well as background graphics and text. In fact, you can use any Web page as your stationery because Outlook Express uses the same type of file format for stationery.
To specify a font for your e-mail or newsgroups messages, choose Tools | Stationery to display the Stationery property sheet. The Mail and News pages of the property sheet are identical in the settings they contain, with the only difference being the message type they modify. Simply choose the appropriate page depending on the type of message for which you want to change properties.
Click the Font settings button to specify new font characteristics for messages. A standard Font dialog box will appear, enabling you to choose a font name, style, and size and other font characteristics.
As explained previously, stationery is nothing more than an HTML file (Web page) that you assign as the background of the message. Message text can appear within the context of the page. To choose one of Outlook Express's predefined stationery styles, open the Stationery property sheet, choose the appropriate page (Mail or News), and choose the This Stationery option button. Then click Select to display the Select Stationery dialog box (see Figure 20.13). As you can see in the figure, you can preview the stationery prior to selecting it for use. When you're satisfied with your selection, choose OK.
FIGURE 20.13 Use the Select Stationery dialog box to choose a predefined Web page for your messages.
The Select Stationery list by default shows the HTML files located in the \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery folder. Click the Browse button to browse for additional HTML files located in other folders (such as HTML files you have created yourself).
If you wish, you can edit the stationery files to suit your needs. Select the desired file in the Select Stationery dialog box; then click Edit. Windows 98 then opens the default editor for HTML files (FrontPage Express if you have no others installed) to enable you to modify the HTML file. Modify the file as desired; then save it and return to Outlook Express to use it.
If creating HTML files is not your strong suit, you might want to check out Microsoft's Web site for additional stationery files. The easiest way to get to the site is to open the Select Stationery dialog box and click the Get More button. Outlook Express will launch your Web browser and point it to the appropriate site where you can download additional stationery.
A signature is a string of text you can add automatically to your messages. Some people include their full e-mail, address, phone, and fax information as the signature for their messages. Others attached quotes, jokes, other text, or an HTML file. In any case, the signature you define is appended automatically to all outgoing messages.
To define signature text, choose Tools | Stationery to display the Stationery property sheet. Then select either Mail or News depending on the type of message with which you want to associate a signature. Click the Signature button to display the Signature dialog box (see Figure 20.14).
FIGURE 20.14 Use the Signature dialog box to assign text and/or a business card to outgoing messages.
To assign some text as the signature, place a check in the Add his signature to all outgoing messages check box; Then choose the Text option button and type the desired text in the associated text box.
If you prefer, you can select a file (text or HTML file) as the signature. To do so, select the File option button and click the Browse button to browse for and select the desired file. If you don't want the signature added to message replies and messages you forward to others, place a check in the Don't add signature to Replies and Forwards check box. With this option selected, Outlook Express will append the signature to new outgoing messages only.
The vCard provides a standard by which programs and digital devices can exchange data using a business card format. Through its support for vCard, Outlook Express enables you to exchange electronic business cards with others through e-mail and newsgroup messages. You also can append your vCard to outgoing messages. The vCard data is stored in the Outlook Express Address Book.
To create your vCard data, open the Address Book and create an entry for yourself and fill in whichever fields you want as a part of your vCard. With the Address Book entry completed, close the Address Book and open the Stationery property sheet. Then click the Signature button to display the Signature dialog box (refer to Figure 20.14).
TIP: If you prefer, you can create your vCard Address Book entry from the Signature dialog box by clicking the New button on the dialog box. Outlook Express opens the Address Book and lets you create a new entry.
From the Card drop-down list, choose your vCard entry. The items shown on the Card list come from your Address Book. If you want to review or modify the data, click the Edit button. Outlook Express then opens the same property sheet you use in the Address Book to create and view Address Book entries. When you are satisfied with the vCard information and are ready to begin appending the information to your messages, place a check in the Attach card to all outgoing messages check box on the Signature dialog box.
Using Rules
If you have been using e-mail for any length of time, you've probably received at least some spam--the junk mail of the computer age. Outlook Express offers support for rules that enable you to effectively filter out unwanted messages. Rules also provide your PC with the capability to perform other message filtering tasks, such as redirecting messages from specific people or that meet other specified criteria.
You define rules in Outlook Express through the Inbox Assistant. To work with the Inbox Assistant, choose Tools | Inbox Assistant. You'll see a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 20.15.
FIGURE 20.15 Use the Inbox Assistant to define filters to help you process messages.
To add a new rule to your Inbox, click the Add button on the Inbox Assistant dialog box. Doing so opens the Properties dialog box shown in Figure 20.16. Use the Properties dialog box to define the new message-filtering rule.
FIGURE 20.16 Use the Properties dialog box to define a new message rule.
The following list summarizes the options on the Properties dialog box:
Rules in Outlook Express offer sufficient flexibility that they enable you to perform a wide variety of message filtering functions. The following list describes just a few possibilities:
As you might have guessed, you can create multiple rules using the Inbox Assistant to handle any number of message sorting and handling tasks.
Sometimes you might need to send a message to the same group of people. For example, you might send a weekly status report to a group of colleagues. Although you could select each recipient's e-mail address individually when you compose the message, a distribution group is a better solution.
A distribution group is a collection of e-mail addresses grouped together and known by a common name. For example, you might create a distribution group that contains the e-mail addresses of everyone else in your workgroup. When you need to broadcast a message to all of them, you compose the message and select the distribution group for the To field in the message. Outlook Express takes care of generating the proper e-mail address list.
To create a distribution list, choose Tool | Address Book. In the Address Book, choose File | New Group or click the New Group button on the Address Book toolbar. Outlook Express displays the Group property sheet shown in Figure 20.17.
FIGURE 20.17 Use the Group property sheet to create a distribution group.
In the Group Name text box, specify the name for the group. This is the name that will appear in the Address Book for the distribution group. To create a new address to be added to the group, click the New Contact button. Outlook Express displays a standard address property sheet you can use to create the address. Click the Select Members button on the Group property sheet if you want to select existing addresses to add to the distribution group. When you're satisfied with the distribution group, click OK.
To use the distribution list, begin composing the message. In the To field type the distribution list name or click the card icon next to the To field and select the distribution list from the Select Recipients list, just as you would for an individual address.
Outlook Express provides a handful of security features that enable you to ensure that your messages are secure from interception and can be verified as having come from you and not someone posing as you. Others can use these same benefits for messages they send to you. The following sections explain these security features in more detail.
A digital ID comprises three components: a public key, a private key, and a digital signature. The public and private keys provide a means for messages to be encrypted. When you send your digital ID to someone, you actually are giving that person your public key. The recipient's e-mail client then uses your public key to encrypt his or her message to you. When you receive the message, Outlook Express uses your private key to decrypt the message so you can read it. Encryption prevents someone from intercepting the message and reading it (actually someone could intercept it, but not read it without your private key). The private and public keys that are part of your digital ID, then, serve as two complementary parts of your message encryption capability.
The digital signature included in your digital ID uniquely defines you. When included with an outgoing message, your digital signature identifies the message as having come from you rather than someone simply using your e-mail address.
Before you can begin using message encryption or digital signatures, you need to acquire a unique digital ID. Unfortunately, you can't simply create your own. You need to acquire one from one of several companies that offers digital IDs. This ensures that your digital ID is completely unique to you.
An easy way to get a digital ID is to follow the links on Microsoft's Web site to retrieve one. With Outlook Express open, choose Tools | Options and click on the Security tab to display the Security property page (see Figure 20.18).
FIGURE 20.18 The Security page enables you to specify security settings.
Click the Get Digital ID button to open your browser and jump to Microsoft's Web site. The resulting page lists companies that offer digital IDs. Choose the link to the company whose ID you would like and follow the instructions at the company's site to get your ID. Whether or not you'll incur a charge for the ID depends on the company.
Outlook Express enables you to encrypt messages to prevent them from being intercepted and read by unauthorized persons. You also can digitally sign messages to prove to the recipient that the message actually came from you. As soon as you acquire a digital ID you can begin sending encrypted messages and using digital signatures. First, however, you have to associate the digital ID with your e-mail account.
Choose Tools | Accounts to open the Internet Accounts property sheet. Select the e-mail account to which you want to assign the digital ID; then click Properties. Click on the Security tab to display the account's Security page. Place a check in the Use a digital ID when sending secure messages from check box. Click on the Digital ID button and choose the digital ID to associate with the account.
You can digitally sign a single message or have Outlook Express sign all outgoing messages. To sign a single message, begin composing the message. In the New Message window, choose Tools | Digitally Sign.
You also can encrypt individual messages or encrypt all messages. To encrypt a single message, choose Tools | Encrypt.
To configure Outlook Express to digitally sign or encrypt all your outgoing messages, choose Tools | Options to open the Options property sheet, then click on the Security tab to display the Security property page. In the Secure Mail control group are two settings that control these two capabilities. These settings are explained in the following list:
For someone to send you encrypted mail, the sender must first have your digital ID. It's a simple matter to send your digital ID to him. Just compose a quick message telling the person that the message contains your digital ID, digitally sign the message, and send it. Outlook Express takes care of sending along your digital ID with the message. When the recipient receives your signed message, he'll be able to encrypt messages to you.
To send encrypted messages, you need to have the recipient's digital ID. You have two ways to obtain the digital ID: send an e-mail to the person requesting it or look up the user's ID from a directory service that supports digital IDs. If you know the person has a digital ID from VeriSign, for example, use Outlook Express to connect to VeriSign's directory server (see "Creating a Directory Service Account" earlier in this chapter). Search the directory service for the person's name and/or e-mail address. When you locate the person in the directory, click the Add to Address Book button to add the address and digital ID to your address book.
Security zones enable you to categorize content you receive through e-mail in Outlook Express into different security categories depending on the level of trust you have in the site's content (ActiveX controls, scripts, and Java applets, for example). Using security zones enables you to protect against receiving malicious scripts through HTML content in messages.
Security zones apply not just to Outlook Express but also to Internet Explorer. When you modify security zone settings in Internet Explorer, the changes apply to Outlook Express and vice versa.
There are four security zones:
Outlook Express only allows you to specify one of two zones for e-mail content. These zones include the Internet zone and the restricted sites zone. To specify which zone to apply to e-mail, choose Tools | Options; then click on the Security tab to display the Security property page. In the Security Zones group, select the desired security zone from the Zone drop-down list. Click the Settings button if you want to view or modify the settings for the selected zone. Outlook Express displays the Security dialog box shown in Figure 20.19.
FIGURE 20.19 Use the Security dialog box to change zone settings.
From the Zone drop-down list, choose the zone whose settings you want to modify. Choose High, Medium, or Low if you want to use predefined settings. Choose Custom if you want to specify your own collection of settings. Choosing Custom displays the Security Settings dialog box shown in Figure 20.20. You can use the option buttons within this dialog box to control a wide variety of security settings.
FIGURE 20.20 Use the Security Settings dialog box to supply custom security settings.
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