Thursday 23 January 2014

MS Outlook Vs Outlook Express

MS Outlook & Outlook Express, both applications have same name but offers different functionality. These email applications are used for managing emails, organizing meetings, and planning your schedule. Let discuss both email applications one by one. 

Outlook Express

Outlook Express is free email application which is included with Windows versions earlier from Windows Vista and came with Internet Explorer versions 6 and earlier. Outlook Express has been replaced by Windows Mail in Windows versions beginning from Windows Vista.  You can also easily setup your POP3, IMAP or Hotmail accounts with Outlook Express.

Advantages 

Mail Availability without Internet Connection: For access Outlook express mails, there is no need of internet connection, it automatically connect to your account, download your mails and save your mails on your system. When you access your messages on your system then you can access it even without an internet connection.

Copy of your emails available your local machine: Outlook Express stores a copy of all your emails on your local computer. So you can access your messages from your machine in case of accidently message deletion or message inaccessibility. 

Supports Multiple Accounts for Exchange Emails: Outlook Express supports multiple accounts to exchange information using SMTP, POP3 and IMAP.  

Disadvantages

Outlook Express Corruption: There are number of reasons which can corrupt Outlook express files. Some reasons are file size increased due to increasing number of stored emails and file compaction. There are also many programs available in market which back up, restore and recover corrupted Outlook Express files (DBX)

Security issues: Outlook Express supports HTML email and scripts. Due to this feature, emails are infected with viruses. Another security issue was that a script could automatically be opened as an attachment. In Outlook Express SP2   Microsoft has tried to correct the security issues. Due to this unusual behavior of Outlook Express, users are switching from Outlook Express to MS Outlook.

Microsoft Outlook: 

MS Outlook is featured email application & included in the Microsoft Office product. You can also setup your POP3, IMAP or Hotmail accounts with Outlook. The current version of MS Outlook is Outlook 2013 which comes with many extensive features. MS Outlook includes a calendar, task manager, contacts, notes, journal, and web browsing. This application can also work with Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft Exchange Server for multiple users in an organization.

Advantages: MS Outlook has numerous advantages as compare to Outlook Express: Integrated search function, Security Features, email connectivity features etc.

Disadvantages:

Integration: As we all knows, we can integrate Outlook with other programs, such as Google Calendar. In this case, you have to install third party applications to maintain current information and input it manually into Outlook again.  

Not all OS Support: Microsoft Outlook is built to run on Windows Systems such as Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8. you can also run Microsoft Outlook virtually on Mac OS. But for Linux, there is very little support to run Microsoft Outlook. 

The most major Similarities and difference between Outlook and Outlook Express are.

Similarities and Differences: There are many similarities & differences available in both the applications which are listed below: 

1. Outlook and Express both work with Internet standard protocols such as IMAP, SMTP, and POP3.
2. Both offer templates for customizing the email message.
3. Outlook Express can be used by the individual or small-business owners who only need a powerful email application. On the other hand, MS Outlook is for the bigger organizations that need to communicate with several email clients and locations.

What to Choose – Outlook or Outlook Express??

You can use Outlook and Outlook Express on the same computer but you have to think carefully on which purpose you are using program. For your work purpose, you can choose Outlook for both your corporate and personal accounts. Or, you can use Outlook for your work e-mail and Outlook Express for your personal e-mail. It does all depend on your work need. If you are using an IMAP e-mail account with both email applications the Outlook and Outlook Express, it could cause the problem. 

Outlook Express

Choose Outlook Express if:
You need only Internet e-mail and newsgroup functionality  
You are using Office 98 for Macintosh then you can take advantage to integrate Outlook Express with this version of the Office suite.

Outlook

Choose Outlook if:

Need of advanced Internet standards-based e-mail and discussion group functionality.
Need of integrated personal calendars, group scheduling, task, and contact management.
Need to integrate e-mail and calendaring, cross-platform clients. 
If you are using Office 97, Office 2000, Office XP then you can take advantage to integrate Outlook with this version of the Office suite  
Need to integrate with Exchange Server.
Need of robust, integrated run-time and design-time collaboration capabilities.

The above article clearly explained that Outlook Express is best fit for home users and Outlook is best fit for business users.