I have recently purchased a laptop with Microsoft Windows 7 installed. It appears that I need Windows Live email (Hotmail) or Google email address (Gmail) to use it. If this is indeed the case, how on earth do I install my current email address that I have been using on Outlook Express?
Jeremy Furness
Another round of name changes at Microsoft has lead to many of its loyal users failing to differentiate between different products and services. The web-based email, Hotmail, was put under the ‘Live’ umbrella and changed to Windows Live Hotmail.
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Outlook Express, the popular email client, gave way to Windows Mail on Vista which itself was replaced by Windows Live Mail on Windows 7. Hence it comes as no surprise that people like Jeremy get confused with the “Windows Live” nomenclature.
To clarify – You doesn’t need a Windows Live email (Hotmail) account or a Gmail address to use the Windows Live Mail program on the Windows 7 operating system.
You can set up your present email account in this email client as long as it is POP enabled (it will be if you’ve been using it through Outlook Express). FYI, popular webmail email accounts can also be configured in Windows Live Mail; refer links below.
Windows Live email accounts on Windows 7
As most of you know, the default Windows 7 email program is Windows Live Mail. It can be regarded as Outlook Express version 8 (tongue-in-cheek, of course). However, Windows Live Mail is much more than a simple email and news client because it also serves as an RSS reader and a blogging tool.
Any email account that can be accessed with the Post Office Protocol (POP) can be set up as Windows Live email on a Windows 7 computer. You can either do this manually or simply copy the email account settings from Outlook Express to Windows 7 which involves exporting and then importing an .iaf file. Also, all old email from Outlook Express can be copied to Windows Live Mail through the import function.
Conclusion: To use your current email address as the Windows Live email on Windows 7, simply set up it up in Windows Live Mail email program.
