Using Basic Email Client Software

There are two basic email client software packages that are good for checking email. If you don’t want to use full suite or integrated packages, then these clients should be fine for your SOHO.

The first email client is Microsoft Outlook Express and the name says it all. It’s a quick way for you to get in and check your email without all of the extras.

Microsoft Outlook Express supports POP server technology for businesses that have their own web server. There is an accounts function that asks you everything about your POP server and all you have to do is input the information that you’re ISP gives you concerning your POP server account.

MS Outlook Express has an address book function to load or import addresses to. You can also export addresses to other formats also and it also has a format to convert addresses to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

All standalone email clients have newsgroups functions and MS Outlook Express is not different than the others. It’s easy to set up through the Tools>>Accounts menu.

If you have Microsoft Outlook Express, it also integrates with Microsoft Word XP for Mail Merge functions and operates smoothly.


Thunderbird by Mozilla is the next email client and it has a lot of bells and whistles. Actually, Thunderbird starts up faster because it has less programming code. There is a Thunderbird version for Linux users.

Thunderbird is an open client mail system. You can add many components on to the system and program your own modules but let’s stick with the basics. It has all the features that MS Express Outlook does but there are some specialized features, such as, loading your own mail call sounds, robust junk mail controls that you can REALLY customize and message grouping. You can also program JavaScript routines into your mail client.

There are other email clients that are available. Eudora is a very fine program that is similar to MS Outlook Express.

So if you don’t want to go through your suite in MS Outlook, you can always check your email independently using these programs.