Email is one of the most important communication forms in business. Email provides an easy and inexpensive way to share information and carry on conversations with people anywhere in the world.
This chapter covers using Outlook Express, the email program that comes with Windows 2000. However, the techniques in this chapter also work reasonably well on many other mail programs, including Netscape Messenger, Qualcomm Eudora, and Microsoft Outlook 2000.
Note
Don't confuse Outlook, a component of Microsoft Office, with its slimmer sibling Outlook Express. In addition to its email features, Outlook also offers a calendar, to-do list, and compatibility with Microsoft Exchange Server. Outlook Express has charms of its own, however, that aren't in Outlook 2000, including support for using Hotmail accounts, integration with MSN Instant Messenger, and a topnotch program for reading newsgroups (Internet bulletin boards).
To start Outlook Express, either click the Outlook Express button on the Quick Launch toolbar, or choose Start→Programs→Outlook Express.
If your PC is attached to a big network, you probably already have an email account. But if you're setting up a new peer-to-peer network (see Chapter 15) or you're running Windows 2000 Pro on a non-networked PC, you may still be faced with the chore of choosing an email provider.
It's not an easy choice. First, you must choose between free accounts and accounts provided by your ISP (see Chapter 11).
When you sign up for a free email account, such as Hotmail ( http://www.hotmail.com ) and Juno ( http://www.juno.com ), you read and send email using a Web browser. These accounts require almost no setup, and let you get your email from any computer that can access the Web; on the other hand, processing email using a Web browser is generally slower and more cumbersome than using a real mail program such as Outlook Express.
There are exceptions: For example, you can configure Outlook Express to check your Hotmail account as if it were a normal email account. Most Web-based email services let you check your "regular" (POP or IMAP) email accounts via Web browser, too (sometimes for an additional fee). And some free accounts actually work as a "regular" email account, allowing Outlook Express to easily check your email.
Tip
If you're not crazy about the email address that your company, school, or ISP assigned to you, you can sign up for a fee-based vanity email service (at http://www.vanitymail.com, for example). It gives you an email address of your own choosing (such as [email protected] or some other catchy address); messages sent to that address get automatically forwarded to your "real," much less memorable address.
If you pay for your ISP service, you get one or more email accounts. The accounts they provide are typically POP-based, and are usually faster and more reliable than free email accounts. However, not all ISPs give you Web access to your email, and if you decide to change ISPs, you lose your email address.
Tip
Services like Bigfoot ( http://www.bigfoot.com ) provide free email forwarding for life. All email sent to the address Bigfoot assigns to you is forwarded automatically to your "real" email address. If you change ISPs, you don't have to change your email address; you just update your forwarding address to reflect your new email account. Your correspondents will never know the difference. (The vanity email services described in the previous tip offer this benefit, too.) The downside to using forwarding is that it can delay your email anywhere from a minute to a couple days if the company's servers are overloaded.
To launch Outlook Express, either click its icon on the Quick Launch toolbar or choose Start→Programs→Outlook Express.
If you haven't used any other email software on the computer before, the first thing Outlook Express does is invite you to make it the default mail program. (If you have previously used other email software, Outlook Express asks this question later.) Click Yes if you've decided to use Outlook Express as your primary email program; otherwise, click No.
Tip
If you chose not use Outlook Express as your preferred mail program, clear the "Always perform this check when starting Outlook Express" checkbox to prevent it from asking this question every time you use the program.
Next, you see the Internet Connection Wizard, prompting you to setup a mail account (see "Setting Up Email Accounts" on the next page).
If you've ever used another email program on this computer, Outlook Express now asks if you'd like to import the settings, messages, and address books from the other program(s). (It can import this information from most popular email programs. In the unlikely event that it doesn't recognize yours, choose File→Import to import them manually.) A wizard walks you through the steps: choosing the older program, specifying which accounts you want to import, indicating which elements (addresses, messages) you want imported, and so on.
When you click Finish, Outlook Express completes the importing process, so that you can begin your life with Outlook Express accompanied by the familiar surroundings of your old messages and addresses.
If you used the Internet Connection Wizard (see Chapter 11), or if a network administrator has configured Outlook Express for you, you can skip this section; Outlook Express already knows your email account settings.
Otherwise, to set up or view these settings, choose Tools→Accounts. Click the Mail tab, then the Add→Mail to start the Connection Wizard.
In the Display Name box, type the name you want to use when sending email.
You're supposed to enter your real name here, but you can enter some other name, like HotStuff or Your Royal Highness. (Just remember not to email your boss using this account.)
Click Next. Enter the email address for the account.
If you don't actually have an account, and you've just been bluffing it up to this point, you may select "I'd like to sign up for a new account from Hotmail" to remedy the situation. (Although you might want to shop around for a bit first to get the best kind of email account for you.)
Click Next. Enter your mail server information.
If you chose the Hotmail option, you're taken directly to the Setup Hotmail Account Wizard. You're asked to provide your name, some information about yourself, a sign-in name, password, and other information. When you finish, your new Hotmail account will be listed on the Mail tab of the Internet Accounts dialog box. You can view or change the settings for this account by clicking the Properties button.
Otherwise, select the type of mail server your account uses from the "My incoming mail server is" drop-down list box. (Hint: It's probably a POP3 server.) Enter the incoming mail server's address in the Incoming Mail box. In the Outgoing Mail box, enter your SMTP server address. Click Next.
If you don't know your incoming or outgoing mail server names, ask someone who would know: your ISP (for your personal or home account) or network administrator (for your work or business account).
Enter your account name and password.
Your account name is usually the first part of your email address—the part that comes before the @mydomain.com part. To make Outlook Express remember your password, turn on the "Remember password" checkbox.
Tip
The "Remember password" option saves you a step when you check your mail, but remember that a passing spy who sits down at your PC can theoretically check your email without entering a password.
If your Web server requires secure password authentication (most don't), turn on "Log on using Secure Password Authentication."
Click Next, and then click Finish. Click Close in the Accounts dialog box.
If the mail account is an IMAP account (see page 246), you're now asked if you want to download a list of folders. Click Yes, then use the Show/Hide IMAP Folders dialog box to choose the folders you want to display, as shown in Figure 12-1.
Figure 12-1. The Show/Hide IMAP Folders dialog box lets you choose which folders you want to see on your mail server. The Inbox, Sent Items, and Drafts folders are selected by default. To add other folders to the list, select the desired folder and click Show. To see what folders you've selected at a glance, click the Visible tab.
If you're not using an IMAP account, you won't be asked any such thing; in fact, you're now ready to start using email.
UP TO SPEED : The Outlook Express Starting Page
Outlook Express displays a summary page when you launch the program. This page provides quick links to some of the most common tasks in Outlook Express, such as reading unread messages, writing a new message, reading newsgroups, or looking up people in the Address Book.
At first, you may find this page a handy way to start using Outlook Express. However, as you use the program more, you may discover that you'd rather go directly to your Inbox when Outlook Express starts. In that case, turn on the "When Outlook Express starts, go directly to my Inbox" checkbox at the bottom of the page. You can also turn off the "Tip of the day" feature on this starting page by clicking the X to the right of the "Tip of the day" heading. (To turn the tips back on, click the Tips hyperlink that appears near the top right of the page.)