Windows Mail - lacking certain features? Windows Mail Discuss Windows Mail - lacking certain features? in the Vista Features forums; Hi all, I'm currently using Windows Mail and for the most part, it works very well. It's great to have Mail, Calender and Contacts built into Windows and ...

[Parm]

Hi all,

I'm currently using Windows Mail and for the most part, it works very well. It's great to have Mail, Calender and Contacts built into Windows and they are a most welcome addition. Particularly for home users who can also purchase Microsoft Office Home & Student Edition and not worry about missing out on Outlook.

Anyhow, although I'm happily using Windows Mail right now, it does seem to be missing a few simple things that would make it more appealing:

• Ability to minimize to system tray
• Localized Spell Checking - although US English is available, UK English is not

Last but not least, I personally believe that in future it's essential that Windows Mail provide sync functionality for mobile devices. I use Windows Mobile Device Center but there is currently no way to synchronize with Windows Mail, Windows Calender or Windows Contacts. The only option is to use Microsoft Outlook and that really alienates a lot of home users.

Any thoughts?

[dazzlin]

While I don't have specific answers to your questions, I would suggest you download and try Windows Live Mail Desktop. I like it better than Windows Mail, and it does minimize to the tray (which was my biggest beef with Windows Mail). No idea if it handles localized spelling or not, or syncing or not, as I haven't tried either. But you might want to give it a shot.

[Midway]

Someone has developed an app for WM minimizing to tray:

http://help.lockergnome.com/vista/Mi...pict21297.html

Look down until you see Kristan Kenney's post.

I am going to try it when I get home.

[Midway]

Doh!! I guess I should have clicked on the link and made sure it was still working. The link is dead now.

[felix8406]

Originally Posted by Midway

Doh!! I guess I should have clicked on the link and made sure it was still working. The link is dead now.

The link is working.

I'm with Dazzlin, Windows Live Mial Desktop is much superior than Vista's mail.

[Midway]

I still couldn't get that link to open that was posted. But the one posted on this forum

http://www.vista64.net/forums/vista-...stem-tray.html

which is from the same person does work for me. I have been having some funny things going on tonight with dead links. I guess Laredo (my satellite uplink location) is having problems tonight.

[Parm]

Thanks for the responses people, that was quick!

I've tried that tray icon app previously and although it kinda works, it's not ideal. You can't seem to get Windows Mail to minimize directly to the tray, you have to click the tray icon and choose hide. Neither does it offer nice pop up previews of new mail like Outlook does.

I'm curious about Live Mail Beta though and think I might give that a whirl, does it replace Windows Mail or run alongside it? One thing I didn't like about XP was having Outlook Express and Outlook on the same system, I've always wanted one definitive mail app and I was hoping Windows Mail would be it. Unfortunately it now seems that it could be Windows Mail, Live Mail, Outlook or a combination of them all!

What advantages/disadvantages does Live Mail offer in comparison to Windows Mail?

I really like some of the Live Ideas but they don't seem that well intergrated yet, I had hoped a while back that a lot of the current ideas and Live apps would be integral to Vista but that still seems a long way off.

[felix8406]

I've been using Live Mail for as long as I can remember...in fairness, I have never try Windows Mail because it does not work with Hotmail. I like Hotmail because of the Report and Delete Spam filter. When I need information from the Internet, I know that I can provide my Hotmail account because even if I'm spammed, I can fix that quickly.

Apart from Hotmail, I have five other email accounts from Gmail and my ISP and I can access them with a single click. With Windows Live Mail "beta" I get 2GB of space. As for replacing Windows Mail, I'm not sure. I believe that just like Outlook Express, Windows Mail is built-in into Vista and cannot be deleted. However, when I set 'Windows Live Mail Desktop' as my default email client, Windows Live disappear from the menu.

[Midway]

That app I was referring to doesn't actually minimize to tray, it exits to tray (clicking X instead of _) when I tried it out last night.

[Parm]

I'm using Windows Live Mail Desktop now and though it does work quite well, it's still not the perfect mail client. The interface feels a bit cluttered to me and I'm not keen on the whopping advertisement on the right hand side. I prefer the feel of Windows Mail, but it doesn't offer as much as Windows Live Mail Desktop.

I thought it was frustrating that Windows Mail, Windows Contacts and Windows Calendar didn't interact with one another very much, if at all. Now with Windows Live Mail Desktop I have a whole other list of contacts and a calendar button that takes me to the web. Gah!