Windows Mail frustration Vista Tips Discuss Windows Mail frustration in the Windows Vista forums; Has Microsoft finally lost the plot? In Outlook Express, typing the first letters of the name of anyone on my list of contacts would immediately insert that person's e-...

[alpinehermit]

Has Microsoft finally lost the plot? In Outlook Express, typing the first letters of the name of anyone on my list of contacts would immediately insert that person's e-m address in the To field. In Windows Mail, this seems to happen only if I have e-mailed that person very recently. My son, also fed up with Windows Mail, said it will link only to the last 20 addresses one has contacted, but many of those 20 could be repeats, i.e. people one has e-mailed several times. As I have 300+ e-mail addresses in my Contacts list, I almost always have to click on the Contacts icon beside the To field and scroll through the list, which is infuriating after the ease of Outlook Express. What a backward step. I've tried using Thunderbird instead, but that seems to have its own inadequacies. Any suggestions...?

[felix8406]

Outlook Express look up for addresses in the address book, while Windows Mail uses the registry, which is limited to 20 addresses. Microsoft is aware of the issue, but probably won’t fix it because they want users to use Windows Live Mail instead, which is what I recommend in your case.

[alpinehermit]

Thanks Felix 8406. I hadn't heard of Windows Live Mail and will have a go.

[felix8406]

You're very welcome. I personally think the Microsoft can easily fix and should fix the issue. Integrated software should work the way people expect, after all, it's the customer that pays the company's bills.

[alpinehermit]

Yes, have tried Windows Live Mail for a bit and it's fine. My son also loathed Windows Mail and we both tried Firefox Thunderbird but didn't like that much either; he tried Windows Live Mail but didn't like it and didn't even suggest it to me (am glad you did!). Now he's building a computer for his daughter and will install XP on it. He's had all sorts of probs with Vista but is sticking with it himself so that he can help other people.