Help Save Windows Mail
Windows Live Mail will replace Windows Mail in Microsoft's newest version of Windows called Windows 7. Windows 7 is scheduled to be released to the public in September or October 2009 - just in time for the holiday shopping season.
Windows Live Mail is the default mail client in Windows 7. Unless you want to buy MS Outlook for $100+ or install an unfamiliar and somewhat limited email program like Thunderbird, its cousin Postfix, or one of the other free email clients available on the web (and all with much less functionality than Windows Mail) you're going to have to use Windows Live Mail.
Windows Live Mail is a cloud computing application with a desktop interface. That means all or part of the program runs from a Web server. Microsoft has gone to great lengths to make Windows Live Mail look similar enough to Windows Mail that some people may not recognize there are major differences, including the security risks associated with storing personal information such as can be found in many personal email messages on non-secure servers. Yet that is exactly what happens to you with Windows Live Mail if you choose to synchronize your mail accounts on Windows Live Mail so you can "access them from anywhere".
We think Microsoft needs to offer its customers the option to choose to use a secure desktop-base email client like Windows Mail rather than a cloud computing application like Windows Live Mail. Whether you agree that there are security risks involved with using applications in the cloud or not, the fact is that Windows Live Mail is less functional, less user-friendly and may be less reliable since it requires you to login to your Hotmail.com, Live.com, or MSN.com email account in order to use it. You may not have one of these web-based email accounts and you may not want one. To use Windows Live Mail, Microsoft is forcing you to get a Hotmail account; if you don't you cannot use it. In other words you can't use the default email program in Windows 7 unless you opt-in to a web-based email service owned and operated by Microsoft such as Hotmail or MSN.
All the files necessary to run Windows Mail are included in all beta versions of Windows 7 to date. However the files are locked and will not run on Windows 7.
We don't know how responsive Microsoft is to its customers these days, but we think if enough people write, call or email Microsoft and express their opinions and concerns about Windows Live Mail they just might listen. We should at least give it a try. If we don't then we'll never know how responsive or unresponsive Microsoft is.
Please help us try to save Windows Mail in Windows 7. We've listed several ways you can contact Microsoft below. We hope you'll join us in our crusade to save Windows Mail - if we don't save it now, you can be sure that the days of Outlook Express and its successor Windows Mail are over, forever.
Contact Microsoft by E-mail:
Here's the US link:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/cu_sc_more_master?ws=mscom#tab1
Outside the US use:
http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/
Main corporate phone number:
425-882-8080
Sales and support: (800) 426-9400
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
Every email, every letter, every phone call will help. We'll find out how much Microsoft listens to their customers. Please email, call or write Microsoft and tell them you want Windows Mail restored in Windows 7. If we don't try to save Windows Mail in Windows 7, we're never going to see Microsoft include a safe, secure, desktop email application in Windows again.
The trend is toward moving applications to the cloud and for some applications this is fine. However removing the personal, desktop email program from Windows and forcing users to have a Hotmail or MSN address in order to use default email application in Windows 7 - and giving users no alternative other than buying Outlook for $100+ or downloading a free, unfamiliar email application with far less features, is just plain wrong. Let's try to save Windows Mail, right now that's all we can do.