Outlook Express 4.01 for Macintosh Release Notes File (192248)

MORE INFORMATION

Welcome

Thank you for downloading Microsoft Outlook Express 4.01 for Macintosh.

Microsoft Outlook Express enables you to communicate with others on the Internet or corporate Intranet through electronic mail and newsgroups.

• Electronic mail, or e-mail, lets you exchange messages and files with

other people on the Internet.

• Internet newsgroups consist of messages by individuals, organized by topic. You can take part by posting a message of your own, responding to a message and sending it to the whole newsgroup, or sending an e-mail message directly to the author of a message.

Requirements

Access to the Internet
You must have access to the Internet through an Internet service provider (ISP) or the network to which your computer is connected.

Internet Software

• MacTCP (control panel) or Open Transport 1.08 or greater (extension) with TCP/IP (control panel)
• If you are a dial-up user, Config PPP or similar PPP connection software (control panel) with PPP (extension)

New and Improved Features

Microsoft Outlook Express enables you to communicate with others on the Internet through electronic mail and newsgroups. With electronic mail, or e-mail, you can exchange messages and files with other people on the Internet. Internet newsgroups consist of messages by individuals, organized by topic. You can take part by posting a message of your own, responding to a message, or sending an e-mail message directly to the author of a message. Outlook Express 4.01 for Macintosh presents new features that make e-mail even easier!

Check Names

When you're composing new mail, names and addresses appear underlined in different colors to tell you whether you have a recipient's e-mail addresses right. When you click the Check Names button, Outlook Express will search your Contacts list and default directory service so that you can select the correct recipient or address.

Attachment handling

Working with attached files is more friendly and more efficient.

• If you have the StuffIt Engine installed, you can automatically compress outgoing attachments on all messages, or one message at a time.
• A new rules "action" lets you automatically delete attachments and/or move them to a separate location.
• You can delete individual attachments from selected messages with the Remove Attachments command.

Mail Rules

More rules have been added to help you organize your mail.

• You can apply rules to both incoming and outgoing messages.
• "Account" criteria lets you apply a rule to a message according to the account that sent it.
• "Specific Header" criteria lets you apply a rule to messages that contain your specified data in the header.
• "Message Body" criteria lets you apply a rule based on message text.

New contextual menu options

Additions to the contextual menu give you more Control+click convenience. Now you can:

• Mark all messages as read
• Redirect messages
• Apply rules

HTML mail background color

When you're creating HTML mail, you can change the background color simply by clicking the background color swatch on the toolbar.

IMAP improvements

Outlook Express 4.01 helps you work faster by improving synchronization and speed.

• Improved synchronization lets you download a message and read it, or switch to another folder and read received mail while the rest of your messages are downloading.
• Increased speed lets you move, copy, and delete multiple messages faster.
• Auto-downloading of Inbox messages

POP mail improvements

Outlook Express 4.01 increases POP mail speed.

• All messages on the server are downloaded one time only per client. UIDL is used to determine previously read messages.
• Online and offline POP models are better coordinated so that any messages you have read while online are cached, and will not be downloaded again when you use the Receive All command.

SMTP improvements

You can send multiple messages faster.

Scripting

Outlook Express 4.01 supports scripting for news and contacts. In addition, built-in scripts make it easy to do a multitude of tasks such as mark messages in the message list with color. Built-in scripts are available from the Scripts menu.

Extra Value with Office 98

• With Office 98 installed, you can easily spell check your e-mail.
• You can choose to spell check messages when you send them, or check spelling right as you type.
• The Mail Merge feature in Word 98 lets you address letters and envelopes using your Outlook Express contacts.
• The Office 98 programs make it easy to e-mail documents with Outlook Express by allowing you to click Send To from within any Office 98 program.

Security Issues

Outlook Express has several features that make it easier to keep your communications private. These features are intended to prevent other people from accessing your mail through normal use of Outlook Express. They are not designed to prevent malicious people from using alternate tactics to gain access to your private information. Below are some tips on using the security features in Outlook Express.

• If other people have access to your computer and you are concerned about security, do not choose the Save Password option when creating e-mail accounts. This is especially important if you are using the multiple user feature.
• If you do not want other users to access the mail in your local folders, choose the Require Password option in the Startup Settings section of the Startup & Quit panel in Preferences. Note that this will not prevent other users from using another program to directly access the mail files stored on your disk.
• Some security options, including SSL, require support from the server that you are connecting to. If you are having trouble with these features, please contact your server administrator.

Known Limitations

Upgrading from Internet Mail and News

To import messages and addresses from Internet Mail and News, you must have Internet Mail and News 3.0 or later.

Outlook Express does not import filters or newsgroup favorites from Internet Mail and News. After upgrading, you will have to subscribe to your favorite newsgroups again and set up Mail Rules and Newsgroup Rules to replace your IMN filters.

International

Outlook Express does not support right to left languages.

Extended characters are not permitted in server passwords because of potential character set conflicts between different operating systems.

Mail rules

Mail rules do not work with IMAP or online POP mail accounts.

Internet Config (IC) Preferences

When you start Outlook Express for the first time, it will check for Internet Config settings. If you have IC settings, OE will prompt you to verify those settings, but will only display the New Account dialog box. When this occurs, you should type the name of your Internet Config mail account in the Account Name box, and click OK.

Importing messages from Claris E-mailer 2.0

Some versions of Claris E-mailer may crash when you try to import messages into Outlook Express. If you experience problems, upgrade to Claris E- mailer 2.0v3, and then import your messages to Outlook Express.

Surf Express

Surf Express v1.1.2 and earlier are not compatible with Outlook Express. Surf Express users should upgrade to Surf Express v1.1.3. For more information on Surf Express, visit http://www.connectix.com.

Technical Support

Microsoft offers technical support and services ranging from self-help tools to direct assistance with a Microsoft technical engineer. For more information on options in your area, read Support.txt located in the Help folder (inside the Outlook Express folder).

Please note that Technical Support cannot provide assistance with the creation or debugging of scripts. For more information on scripting, look up "scripting" in the online Help index.

Reporting Problems/Suggestions

To report problems, send mail to msmacoe@microsoft.com.

Please include:

• The version of Outlook Express you are using
• What version you upgraded from
• System configuration information
• Version of operating system
• Type of Macintosh
• Type of connection to the Internet
• Steps that lead to the problem. For example:
  1. Start Outlook Express.
  2. From the File menu, choose Open.
  3. Click the Cancel button.
  4. Result: Nothing happens.
• Any other information that will help us reproduce the problem successfully.