Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Windows Live Mail

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Developer(s)
  
Microsoft

License
  
Freeware

Development status
  
Discontinued

Last release
  
2012 (v16.4.3528.0331) (November 4, 2014; 2 years ago (2014-11-04)) [±]

Operating system
  
Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8

Type
  
Email client News client Feed reader Electronic calendar

Windows Live Mail (formerly named Windows Live Mail Desktop, code-named Elroy) is a freeware email client from Microsoft.

Contents

Windows Live Mail is the successor to Windows Mail on Windows Vista, which was the successor to Outlook Express on Windows XP. It officially supports running on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows 8, and is also compatible with Windows 10.

Version 12 (Wave 2)

The first version of Windows Live Mail was released on 6 November 2007. The Windows Live Mail version numbering starts at 12 because this application is an advancement of Windows Mail, not an entirely new application. Windows Live Mail is developed by the same team that wrote Windows Mail.

Windows Live Mail has all of the features of Windows Mail. It also adds the following new features:

  • Support for Web-based email accounts including Hotmail, Gmail, and Yahoo! Mail Plus.
  • A different user interface which matches the other Windows Live "Wave 2" applications.
  • Synchronization with Windows Live Contacts.
  • Support for RSS feeds. Notable features include the ability to reply directly via email to the author of an item that appears in an RSS feed, and the ability to aggregate multiple feeds into a single folder. The RSS functionality requires Internet Explorer 7 or newer.
  • Multi-line message lists.
  • Emoticons can be used in emails and other functions.
  • In-line spell checking.
  • Separate inbox folders for different POP accounts.
  • Support for sending picture files in emails through the Photo email feature, which uploads pictures to a web-based service and sends the URL and thumbnails in the mail. It can also perform basic photo correction and apply different border effects to pictures.

    • Comparison with Windows Mail

    While Windows Live Mail is the successor to Windows Mail on Windows Vista, there were several differences in functionality between Windows Live Mail and Windows Mail when it was released in 2007. These include:

  • Ability to view and edit HTML email by source has been removed in Windows Live Mail
  • Ability to set margins has been removed
  • Scripted Stationery for Windows Live Mail 2011 is available from Cloudeight Stationery
  • Locally installed help documentation is not available for Windows Live Mail
  • Support for using different mailboxes with separate folders (inbox, junk and so on) added in Windows Live Mail
  • Support for DeltaSync, a proprietary protocol for access to Windows Live Hotmail email accounts, was added in Windows Live Mail
  • Support for WebDAV HTTP-based protocol (web-based email accounts) was added in Windows Live Mail
  • Ability to perform full-text index-based search in Windows Live Mail if Windows Search is installed

    • Version 2009 (Wave 3)

    A beta version of Windows Live Mail was released in September 2008. It features a new user interface which, like the other Windows Live "Wave 3" beta applications released at the same time, has no icons on the toolbar buttons. It also features a new calendaring function; calendar events automatically synchronise between Windows Live Mail and the Web-based Windows Live Calendar. A "beta refresh" version of Windows Live Mail was released on 15 December 2008, and this version was officially released as the final version on 8 January 2009. This was the last version to support Windows XP.

    Version 2009 still contains the same MIME problem with signed mail that Outlook Express has.

    Version 2011 (Wave 4)

    The first beta became available on 24 June 2010, sporting ribbons in the user interface and a calendar pane. The second beta came with a new start-up screen and other minor updates. The final version of Windows Live Mail 2011 was released on 30 September 2010, along with the Windows Live Essentials 2011 suite. It requires Windows Vista or newer; Windows XP is no longer supported.

    Version 2012 (Wave 5)

    On 7 August 2012, Microsoft released a new version of Windows Essentials 2012, which included Windows Live Mail 2012. It requires Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 8, or Windows 10. Windows Vista is no longer supported.

    Replacement

    Microsoft announced that Outlook.com was discontinuing support for Windows Live Mail by dropping support for the DeltaSync protocol. Microsoft has positioned the built-in Windows 10 mailbox as a replacement for it. Unlike Windows Live Mail, the built-in mailbox is tied to the operating system and updated frequently via the Windows Store, although some updates have only been released with build updates. The built-in app functions similarly to the Windows Vista mail app, but it does not use the same code base.

    Although DeltaSync has been discontinued as of 30 June 2016, Microsoft's Windows Live Mail 2011 and 2012 will continue to work with Hotmail e-mail accounts, by using IMAP (or, less effectively, POP) in place of DeltaSync.

    Windows 10 also includes a built-in Calendar app that functions similarly to Windows Vista's Calendar app and replaces the calendar functionality of Windows Live Mail.

    There is no direct Microsoft replacement for Windows Live Mail's RSS functionality.

    Gmail and other service providers still support DeltaSync, so users can still use Windows Live Mail with non-Microsoft email accounts.

    Windows Essentials 2012, including Windows Live Mail 2012, reached end of support on 10 January 2017, and is no longer available for download from Microsoft.

    References

    Windows Live Mail Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA