So long Outlook Express!

Windows Live Hotmail is one of the largest providers of free, web-based e‑mail. This is a helpful service to use when you have more than one computer, travel frequently and use various computers, or don't own a computer at all. Messages are stored in a central location—rather than on your computer—so they're always available, no matter where you are. With Windows Live Hotmail, you can send and receive e‑mail messages from any computer that has a working Internet connection and a supported web browser.

Windows Live Hotmail is web-based, so you must have an Internet connection to send and receive messages. Hotmail normally runs in Internet Explorer or another supported web browser, and keeps your messages stored on a Hotmail server. But you do have the option of checking your Hotmail messages in Windows Live Mail, which stores messages on your PC. (You can also check your Hotmail in Microsoft Office Outlook. For information on how to do that, see One place for all your mail: Read your Hotmail in Outlook.)

Windows Live Mail is an e‑mail program that you install on your computer. It allows you to send and receive messages from one e‑mail account or from multiple accounts with different e‑mail services, including Hotmail.

With Windows Live Mail, messages are stored on your PC, allowing you to access, read, and compose e‑mail messages even when you're not connected to the Internet. Once you connect, Windows Live Mail will send and receive messages and update your accounts.

Windows Live Mail is designed to work with most popular e‑mail services, as well as e‑mail services from even the smallest ISPs. All that's required is for the e‑mail provider to offer Post Office Protocol (POP3) or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) access. (Some popular services, such as Yahoo! Mail, require a premium subscription for POP3 access.)

Windows Live Mail is highly customizable. You can change the look of your Inbox, mail folders, and almost every other aspect of the program, tweaking the settings to your heart’s content.

For example, you can:

• Move the reading pane (also known as the preview pane) to the bottom or the right side of your messages, or you can turn it off altogether.

• Display one line or two lines of information from each message in your message list. This gives you the option of packing more messages onto the screen, or showing fewer messages with more eye-pleasing white space.

• Choose which mail folders to show, hide, or collapse. This can free up space so you can view more messages even if you have a computer with a small screen.

• Show or hide message headers.

• Choose which buttons you want to have visible in the Toolbar.

• Turn on or off Active Search, a feature that displays Internet search results and sponsored links based on keywords in the currently selected e‑mail message.

The ability to fine-tune Windows Live Mail can help when you want to make the most of limited display space, such as a mobile PC. Likewise, if you have a large desktop monitor, you can take advantage of all that space by opening a large reading pane, for example, or keeping all your folders, subfolders, and message headers displayed. To adjust these settings, click View, and then click Layout.

Windows Live Mail lets you customize all the ways your e‑mail is displayed and organized

In addition to the previous features, Windows Live Mail also allows you to:

• Organize your e‑mail with one click.

• Access other tightly integrated Windows Live services. For example, you can launch Windows Live Messenger from your mail, and go to Windows Live Spaces with a single click.

• Use the new Photo E‑mail feature to create and send slide shows to friends and family.

• Display RSS feeds and newsgroup messages in the pane next to your e‑mail messages, and also search for RSS feeds and newsgroup messages from within Windows Live Mail.

• Add a personal signature or designer templates (called stationery) to your messages.

• Store your e‑mail on a server provided by your e‑mail service. This is useful if you have limited disk space on your computer, or if you need to read e‑mail from more than one computer.

Windows Live Mail can help protect you from security threats because it has the ability to:

• Scan all of your Hotmail messages for viruses.

• Detect phishing scams across all your e‑mail accounts.

• Block suspicious messages—and senders, too.

• Destroy junk e‑mail with a single click.

• Color-code messages to help you quickly identify suspicious e‑mail.