Using Windows Mail in Vista – Part I
Posted by: Suprotim Agarwal ,
on 6/21/2007,
in
Category Windows Vista
Abstract: Windows Mail is the email program from Microsoft built into Windows Vista. In the Part I of this two part series, we will explore how to configure Windows Mail on your machine. I am using Windows Vista Ultimate.
What is Windows Mail
In simple words, Windows Mail is a freebie from Vista which allows you to send and receive mails, work with newsgroups and manage online address books. Windows XP had a similar program called Outlook Express. Windows mail is a successor to Outlook Express. In fact, if you have been using Outlook Express in Windows XP and now decide to upgrade to Vista, Windows Mail imports your information automatically.
Configuring Windows Mail on Vista
To use Windows Mail, you will need an internet connection, an email server address (incoming and outgoing mail server address) and an email address. It does not matter if you are setting up your first mail account or your tenth. The steps to configure each email account remain the same. To access Windows Mail, go to Start > All Programs > Windows Mail.
A wizard start up to which you will be providing information in the following sequence :
Step 1: Your Name – The Display Name that will appear in the 'From' field of the outgoing message.
Step 2: Email Address – the address to which people will send mails. E.g. suprotimagarwal[attherate]dotnetcurry.com (replace ‘attherate’ with @)
Step 3: Set Up Mail Servers – You need to choose your server type and names of your incoming and outcoming email servers as shown below. You need to choose between POP3, IMAP or HTTP.
Tip: When you are configuring Gmail or Yahoo mail, you will need to click ‘Outgoing Server requires authentication’. Also note that Windows Mail cannot work with HTTP.
Once you have entered the relevant information, click Next.
Step 4: Type in the Logon name and Password given by you Internet Service Provider. Click ‘Remember Password’ to fetch your mail automatically.
Step 5: Click on Finish to close the wizard.
Step 6: If you have Outlook installed, then the wizard displays Import Messages which allows you to import messages from Outlook. We will choose ‘Do not import at this time’.
Well you are done. You can test the configuration by sending and receiving a sample email. In case of errors, you can change the settings by going to Tools > Accounts.
Conclusion
In this article, we saw how to configure Windows Mail on your Vista Box. In the next article, we will see how to perform common operations using Windows Mail. We will also learn how to use newsgroups with Windows Mail. I hope the article was informative and I thank you for viewing it.
Was this article worth reading? Share it with fellow developers too. Thanks!
Suprotim Agarwal, MCSD, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSE, is the founder of
DotNetCurry,
DNC Magazine for Developers,
SQLServerCurry and
DevCurry. He has also authored a couple of books
51 Recipes using jQuery with ASP.NET Controls and a new one recently at
The Absolutely Awesome jQuery CookBook.
Suprotim has received the prestigious Microsoft MVP award for nine times in a row now. In a professional capacity, he is the CEO of A2Z Knowledge Visuals Pvt Ltd, a digital group that represents premium web sites and digital publications comprising of Professional web, windows, mobile and cloud developers, technical managers, and architects.
Get in touch with him on Twitter @suprotimagarwal, LinkedIn or befriend him on Facebook