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    Readme for Microsoft Outlook(TM) Express Version 5.01 & 5.5
                           February 2000           
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               (c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 2000


Thank you for using Outlook Express!

This document provides complementary or late-breaking information 
to supplement online Help in Outlook Express. Outlook Express 5.01
and 5.5 ships with Internet Explorer and Internet Tools.

-------------------------
How to View This Document
-------------------------
To view the Readme file on the screen in Windows Notepad, maximize
the Notepad window. To print the Readme file, open it in Notepad 
or another word processor, and then click Print on the File menu.


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CONTENTS
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1. MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS

2. NEW FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE

3. KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE

4. TROUBLESHOOTING

5. TIPS AND TRICKS

6. SUPPORT FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS


=================================
Part 1: MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS
=================================

Outlook Express is an Internet standards based e-mail client 
and news reader.
 
To read e-mail with Outlook Express, you must be using a mail 
system that uses SMTP and POP3, IMAP, or HTTP protocols. If you 
don't know whether your e-mail system supports Outlook Express, 
contact your administrator or your Internet service provider and 
ask if they support POP3, IMAP, or HTTP mail clients.

You can use Outlook Express to read newsgroups, or discussion 
groups, such as the Usenet, by using NNTP-based news servers. 
Contact your Internet service provider (ISP) or network 
administrator for the name of the news server that you should 
use. Outlook Express can also be used to receive support for 
a variety of Microsoft products on the news server 
msnews.microsoft.com.

Outlook Express also includes Windows Address Book, which 
provides rich contact management capabilities, including the 
ability to create groups of contacts and folders to help you 
organize your e-mail and personal addresses. The Windows 
Address Book also provides access to Internet directories 
that use LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Internet 
directories are an easy way to find e-mail or street addresses. 
A number of  popular Internet directories are pre-configured 
for easy access.


====================================
Part 2: NEW FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE
====================================

New features in Outlook Express 5.01:

- Read receipts.
  You can now request a receipt verifying that a message has been
  displayed on the recipient's computer. However, the recipient 
  must support returning receipts in order for you to receive one.

- Improved international support.
  Among many international improvements, Outlook Express 5.01 can 
  handle reading and saving files containing a large variety of 
  international characters in their file names.

- Secure mail (S/MIME) enhancements.
  Outlook Express 5.01 includes support for the S/MIME version 3
  specification and other secure mail enhancements. The new 
  features include support for CMS formatted messages, the 
  ability to request and return secure receipts, the ability 
  to send and process security labels, and the ability to send 
  separate signing and encryption certificates.

- Integration with the MSN Messenger Service.
  Online contacts are displayed with a special icon in the 
  contacts area of Outlook Express 5.01. You must have the 
  MSN Messenger Service installed to use this feature. 

- New stationery.
  A dozen contemporary stationery designs are included in this 
  version of Outlook Express.

New features in Outlook Express 5.0: 

- Identities for multiple users.
  With the Identity Manager, you can create profiles for 
  different Outlook Express users. These profiles are shared by 
  applications such as Outlook Express and Windows Address Book.

- Support for Hotmail accounts.
  Outlook Express can now read and manage your Hotmail Inbox and 
  folders, as well as synchronize your Hotmail contacts with the 
  contacts in your Windows Address Book.

- Offline support and message synchronization.
  You can download News and IMAP folders for viewing offline. 
  Actions performed offline (such as sending messages and moving 
  messages within an IMAP account) will be performed when you go 
  back online.

- Contacts pane.
  The contacts in your Windows Address Book are now visible in 
  the main Outlook Express window. 

- Enhanced message rules.
  Outlook Express includes enhanced rules support for more 
  criteria and actions, including the ability to block message 
  senders with a single click or specify rules for newsgroups.

- Multiple signatures.
  You can create an unlimited number of signatures, and each 
  signature can be associated with one or more mail or news 
  accounts.

- Easier to use secure mail (S/MIME).
  Outlook Express automatically finds and associates digital 
  certificates installed on your computer with your mail accounts 
  and automatically adds digital certificates that others send you 
  to the Windows Address Book. 

- Phone dialer integration.
  It's easy to place a telephone call to a contact in the Windows 
  Address Book using the phone dialer installed on your computer.

- IMAP drafts and sent items.
  Outlook Express can store in-progress messages in a server-
  based Drafts folder and store copies of sent messages in a 
  Sent Items folder on the IMAP server.

- IMAP folder manager.
  You can customize which IMAP folders are visible or hidden 
  (subscribed or unsubscribed) in the folder list.

- Advanced Internet directory search.
  You can now perform searches against Internet directory (LDAP) 
  servers with additional criteria and logical operators.

- Watch conversation and ignore conversation.
  You can designate a news or mail conversation as "watched" so 
  that you can see when new messages arrive on that topic. You 
  can also designate a conversation as "ignored" so that you 
  will not see future messages on that topic.

- HTML source editing.
  You can easily edit the source of an HTML message to include 
  advanced HTML tags.

- Customizable message filters.
  You can customize which messages are hidden or shown based on 
  more than a dozen criteria. 

- Stationery wizard.
  It's now even easier to customize HTML stationery, including 
  setting up margins, fonts, background images, and colors.

- Improved connection management.
  Outlook Express can share connection settings with Internet 
  Explorer 5 and above, and it detects when you have disconnected 
  your phone or have disconnected from a LAN. When a connection is 
  needed, Outlook Express will now connect automatically or 
  prompt you.


====================================
Part 3: KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE
====================================

- The frequency that HTTP mail accounts are checked for new 
  messages is determined by the HTTP mail server, not by the 
  options set inside Outlook Express. If you want to check for 
  mail on your HTTP mail account more frequently, you can press 
  the Send/Receive button on the toolbar.

- If you were using the PGP plug-in to Outlook Express 4, you 
  must uninstall it before installing this version of Outlook 
  Express. If you installed Outlook Express before uninstalling 
  the PGP plug-in, this version of Outlook Express will not 
  start. 

  To fix this problem, uninstall this version of Outlook Express, 
  uninstall the PGP plug-in by using Add/Remove Programs in 
  Windows Control Panel, and then install Outlook Express 5.01 
  or 5.5.

- Windows Address Book version 5.01 and 5.5 files cannot be 
  opened in previous versions of the Windows Address Book.

- With certain versions of the McAfee VirusScan program 
  running, Outlook Express may not shut down properly. To fix 
  this problem, upgrade to McAfee VirusScan 4.0.3 or later.

- Your e-mail display name can only contain characters from the 
  default system locale, which is set in Regional Settings in 
  Windows Control Panel. E-mail display names, folder names, and 
  contacts not in the system default locale may not be displayed 
  correctly.

- If messages from a previous version of Outlook Express were 
  not upgraded automatically, you can important the messages 
  manually. To do so, carry out the following steps:

  1. Click File, and then click Import.
  2. Click Messages, and then follow the instructions on your 
     screen.

- When you uninstall this version of Outlook Express, the messages 
  you have received will remain in the Outlook Express message 
  files. If you were previously running Outlook Express 4 or 
  Internet Mail and News, only the messages you received in those 
  programs will be there after uninstall.

  To get your messages from this version of Outlook Express into 
  Outlook Express 4, carry out the following steps:

  1. In Outlook Express 4, click File, and then click Import.
  2. Click Messages, and then follow the instructions on your 
     screen.

- S/MIME version 3 features are available in Outlook Express 
  only if your operating system (such as Windows 2000) contains 
  updated security files.

- To activate support for security labels, a security policy 
  module must be installed on your computer.  Please contact
  your system administrator to find out if they support 
  security policy modules.

- Junk mail filtering is not available in this version of Outlook 
  Express.

- In order to print a mail message in this version of Outlook 
  Express, the message must be displayed either in the preview 
  pane or in a separate window.

- The Identity Manager provides an easy way to group user 
  settings and change users across applications, but it does 
  not provide security for messages, application settings, 
  and digital certificates. If you need stronger security, 
  you should use Windows logon profiles to manage user settings.

- If you install Outlook 98 after installing Outlook Express 
  5.01, the shortcut to the Microsoft Outlook Newsreader may 
  not work. To fix this problem, carry out the following steps:

  1. Click Start, and then click Programs.
  2. Right-click Microsoft Outlook Newsreader, and then click 
     Properties.
  3. In the Target box, type the following (exactly as below):
  
     "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /outnews

- Under certain circumstances, Outlook 98 in Corporate Workgroup 
  mode may stop functioning after this version of Outlook Express 
  is installed. To fix this problem, reinstall Outlook 98.

- When you import contacts into Microsoft Phone, the contacts 
  show up in Phone but not in the Windows Address Book. To work 
  around this problem, carry out the following steps:

  1. In Outlook Express, click the File menu, and then click 
     Import.
  2. Run through the import process again. 

  The contacts will then show up in the Address Book.

- In order for Outlook Express to work on a dual-boot computer, 
  you must install the same version of Outlook Express on both 
  operating systems.

- You cannot use Outlook Express to access your e-mail 
  account with any of the following services: MS Mail, cc:Mail, 
  CompuServe, America Online (AOL), or Microsoft Exchange Server 
  earlier than version 5.

- You will not be able to see embedded objects or images sent 
  from people using Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, or 
  Windows Messaging. File attachments work fine, however.

- If you used Internet News for reading newsgroups, any messages
  in your Posted Items folder will be moved into the Sent Items 
  folder when you upgrade to Outlook Express.

- Outlook Express shows subscribed IMAP folders only in the 
  folder list. It no longer shows all your folders (subscribed 
  and unsubscribed).  

- The View filter "Show Replies to my Messages" only shows 
  message conversations for which you were the author of the 
  original post. Replies to your replies will not be visible.

- Message Rules are not available for IMAP accounts.

- If the option is set to encrypt all outgoing messages, any 
  rules with the action "Forward" in them will not be executed. 

- If you receive messages that does not have proper character set 
  encoding information, you can read them by selecting the proper 
  encoding from the View Encoding menu. 

- HTTP mail accounts do not support folder names that contain 
  a forward slash ("/"). If a folder name on an HTTP account 
  contains this character, use a Web browser such as Internet 
  Explorer to access your account and rename the folder. You 
  can gain access to Hotmail accounts at http://www.hotmail.com/.

- You cannot configure Hotmail features such as Message Rules or 
  the Inbox Protector using this version of Outlook Express. To 
  configure these features, use a Web browser such as Internet 
  Explorer. You can gain access to Hotmail accounts at 
  http://www.hotmail.com/


=======================
Part 4: TROUBLESHOOTING
=======================

- If you are unable to send or receive mail, check your computer 
  to make sure of the following:

  - The TCP/IP protocol is installed on your computer.
  - All cables are properly connected to your computer, modem, 
    or LAN.
  - You have a PPP or SLIP account with your Internet service
    provider.
  - Your Internet service provider or LAN server supports POP3 
    or IMAP and SMTP.
  - Your modem communication parameters (baud rate and type of 
     protocol) are set correctly.

- If you are unable to read or post news, make sure that you 
  use an account name and password for a news server only if 
  it requires them. If you use an account name and password 
  and they are not required, you will not be able to connect 
  to the news server.

- If you run into a problem, try the Troubleshooting section in 
  online Help:

  1. On the Help menu, click Contents and Index.
  2. On the Contents tab, click "Troubleshooting."
  3. Click "If you have trouble using Outlook Express."

- Frequently Asked Questions and popular help topics on Outlook 
  Express are available on the Microsoft Web site at: 
  
  http://support.microsoft.com/support/ie/outlookexpress/win32/

- To access the Microsoft peer product support newsgroups, carry 
  out the following steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
  2. On the News tab, click Add, and then click News.
  3. Follow the instructions on your screen.
  4. When you are prompted for a server name, type
     msnews.microsoft.com 

     If that name isn't found by your Internet service provider, 
     you can type 131.107.3.27 instead.

  You do not need to log on to this news server.


=======================
Part 5: TIPS AND TRICKS
=======================

- To send a message to someone whose address is stored in the 
  Windows Address Book, double-click the name of the contact 
  in the Contacts area.

- To edit the source of an HTML message you are writing, on the 
  View menu, click Source Edit. Three tabs will appear at the 
  bottom of the Window. Click the Source tab to see and change 
  the HTML.

- To change the New Mail Notification sound, carry out the 
  following steps:

  1. In Windows Control Panel, open Sounds and Multimedia 
     properties. If you do not see the Sounds and Multimedia 
     icon, click View All Control Panel Options.
  2. In the Sound Events list, click New Mail Notification.
  3. In the Name list, choose a sound.

- To look up a person's e-mail address when sending mail, use the 
  Check Names command, available on the Tools menu or on the New 
  Message toolbar. When the associated address is found, the name 
  is underlined.

- To send a mail message in Plain Text only (no HTML formatting):

  - On the Format menu, click Plain Text. 

  To make Plain Text the default setting for new messages, 
  replies, and forwarded messages:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Send 
     tab.
  2. Under Mail Sending Format, click Plain Text.

  By default news messages are sent in Plain Text, but you can 
  also change this setting under News Sending Format.

- To customize the toolbar, right-click it and use the menu 
  commands to select the settings you want.

- You can resize the preview pane or the message list by dragging 
  the divider between them.

- You can change how the preview pane splits, or turn it off 
  entirely, by carrying out the following steps:

  1. Click the View menu, and then click Layout.
  2. Change the options you want.

- To view the e-mail address of someone who has sent you a 
  message, double-click the message to open it, and then 
  double-click the author's name in the From field. You can 
  also add this person to your Address Book by right-clicking 
  the name, and then clicking Add To Address Book.

- To view responses to a particular message in a newsgroup, 
  click the plus sign (+) next to the message. The responses 
  appear indented below it.

- In mail, you can leave a copy of your messages on the server. 
  To set this option, carry out the following steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
  2. Select the mail account you want to modify, and then click 
     Properties.
  3. Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Leave A Copy Of 
     Messages On Server check box.

- You can search for newsgroups that contain specific words in 
  their names. To do this, carry out the following steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Newsgroups. 
  2. In the Display Newsgroups Which Contain box, type the words
     separated by a space.

  You can also search newsgroup descriptions. If you cannot see 
  the descriptions, carry out the following steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
  2. Click the news account you want to modify, click Properties, 
     and then click the Advanced tab. 
  3. Select the Use Newsgroup Descriptions check box.
  4. Click the Tools menu again, and then click Newsgroups. 
  5. In the Newsgroups window, click Reset List.

- To reorder columns, you can drag and drop column headings. 
  You can resize columns by dragging the right edge of the column 
  header. 

- To hang up, carry out the following steps:

  1. Click the File menu, and then click Work Offline.
  2. When asked if you want to hang up, click Yes.

- To make Outlook Express connect and check mail at regular 
  intervals, carry out the following steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the 
     General tab.
  2. Make sure the Send And Receive Messages Every X Minutes 
    check box is selected.
  3. Change the setting "If my computer is not connected at 
     this time" to "Always Connect" or "Connect if Work Offline 
     is not checked."

- If any of your mail or news accounts requires you to use a 
  specific ISP connection, select the option to "Always connect 
  to this account using," and then click the appropriate account. 
  This option is available on the Connection tab in the Properties 
  of each account. This option is used primarily by people who use 
  multiple connections, such as LAN and a dial-up connection or 
  two dial-up connections.

- To check for new messages at startup, carry out the following 
  steps:

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General 
     tab.
  2. Select the Send And Receive Messages Every X Minutes check 
     box. 
  3. Make sure that each account you want to check has the option 
     to "Include this account in Send and Receive All" enabled. 
     This option is available on the Connection tab in the 
     Properties of each account. 

  Note that the option "At Start up, ask me if I would like to 
  connect" only initiates a connection. It does not check for 
  mail.
  
- The Dial-up Connection option "At Start up, ask me if I would 
  like to connect" will always prompt you to dial a modem at 
  startup even if a LAN connection exists. If you primarily use 
  LAN, turn off this option.

- To disable the "Connect automatically" behavior for any of your 
  dial-up accounts, click Cancel while connecting to the account. 
  The Dial-up Connection window appears. Clear the Connect 
  Automatically check box.

- If you are running Outlook Express on Windows NT and you 
  need to add support for a different language, carry out the 
  following steps:

  1. In Windows Control Panel, open Keyboard properties. If you 
     do not see the Keyboard icon, click View All Control Panel 
     Options.
  2. Click Add, and then follow the instructions on your screen. 

  This installs the appropriate NLS (National Language Support) 
  files. You do not have to use the associated keyboard layout.


=============================================
Part 6: SUPPORT FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS
=============================================

For the latest information about Outlook Express, see our Web 
page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/oe/. You may find that 
your questions can be answered there.

A newsgroup is dedicated to the discussion of Microsoft Outlook 
Express and provides peer support:

- news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie5.outlookexpress

To read it, follow the procedure outlined in the Troubleshooting 
section above.

This site is the best place to go if you are experiencing a 
problem, as someone else who experienced the same problem 
might already have posted the solution. 

For advanced support issues, go to http://support.microsoft.com/support.
