Outlook Alternatives

[NRG = mc²]

My dad is using Outlook, and has been using the address of our provider back home that I used to use when I knew nothing about computers (1997... or somewhere thereabouts).

Needless to say I used to fill out all these silly forms like all newbies, and as a result his box is full of spam, but the real problems are the virii. As of late his system has been infected by loads of worms etc.

He does have an antivirus, but to the point, the real solution is to change email client as I'm sure you'll agree. Changing email address is not a viable option for him.

So... I need something easy to use that he can install and learn to use by himself.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[blakerwry]

I have found the mozilla mail clients to be easy to use and full featured. From my technical support experience they have alot less problems(that render the program un workable) when compared to outlook. They are also said to be more secure. I think the feature set between both programs is nearly identical, although I personally prefer mozilla to outlook.

 

[Pradeep]

What version of Outlook? Make sure you are completely uptodate with the patches, especially for Outlook 2000. Outlook 2002 by default won't allow you to open .exe attachments etc. I think in this case some user education could come in handy?

 

[NRG = mc²]

He's using the version of Outlook that ships with Win98SE.

He doesn't open attatchments but the problem lies with the preview pane and its related worms.

Meanwhile he's in another country so I can't really patch things up that easily.

I'll give Mozilla a try, and see if I find it easy I might *try* to explain to him how to install it.

 

[Pradeep]

Ah that would be Outlook Express. Terrible news unless he is using at least IE 5.5 with patches. Can he turn the preview pane off or does he like it too much?

Anyway in that case another email client is highly recommended.

 

[NRG = mc²]

Well he could turn it off but he has enough trouble learning to use email anyway (3 years down the line and still struggling), so I'd not want to make life more complicated for him...

 

[honold]

tools / options / read / 'read all messages in plain text'

tools / options / security / 'restricted zone (more secure'

tools / options / security / 'warn me when other applications try to send mail as me'

tools / options / security / 'do not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a virus'

norton antivirus + updates

that's all you need.

 

[NRG = mc²]

Honold,

thanks for the suggestions, but IIRC most of these options do not exist on the version of OE that ships with Win98SE.

 

[Tea]

For simplicity and ease of installation, older versions of Netscape Messenger are hard to beat. Trouble is you get other crap with it, like Real Player. Rule of thumb is the older the version, the less crap. I must remember to play with Mozilla's mail one day soon and see what that's like for the nivice to install.

 

[CougTek]

Eudora.

Version 5.2 is out BTW (I still use 5.1).

 

[NRG = mc²]

I checked out Eudora, but am not going to install it as the free version contains some sort of adware.

I'm going to try Mozilla now.

 

[e_dawg]

For future reference, next time you have access to your dad's computer, set up a VNC server and use a dynamic DNS service to remotely administer his computer from anywhere in the world. Just tell him to go online (which admittedly is quite the Achilles heel if getting online is the problem) and you can VNC to whatever the domain name you have given it. The dynamic DNS service will receive the IP address that is assigned to him by the ISP when he connects (any good shareware dynamic IP updater program should do that) and will update the name servers on the Net to point to that IP address. So, all you would have to do is open the VNC client on your machine, type dadscomputer.domain.net, which will point to 107.22.180.29. The VNC server on your dad's computer will serve up the contents of your dad's screen so you can remotely administer it.

With this setup you could install a new e-mail client, migrate his Inbox and address book, and even train him to use it from half way across the world. (mind you, the latency across continents is pretty bad so you will have quite a bit of lag, so YMMV...)

Except for when my dad has problems connecting to the ISP (which is most frustrating, because I set the computer to go online as soon as you turn it on), I have been able to remotely administer it, saving myself hundreds of miles of driving and hours of frustrating phone calls to fix some silly little problem that occurs every few weeks.

 

[honold]

if the features aren't a part of it, you can always install ie6 (which comes with oe6)

 

[NRG = mc²]

Good idea, e_dawg. I might do that. I use VNC on my machines here at home but didn't think of that.

I checked out Mozilla's mail client and it seems fairly straightforward. I've told him to ask the guy who's so happy to charge him hundrerds to reinstall Windows, to install Mozilla and get it over with.

I hope he'll manage to understand how it works... :roll:

Thanks everyone.

 

[Prof.Wizard]

virii

OT: Is it used frequently in this form, Will? Which plural is more used, viruses or virii?

 

[NRG = mc²]

I thought virii was the correct term?

 

[Prof.Wizard]

Me too. But... :-?

Med books sometimes say viruses, sometimes not. I think it's like light-lite. The simpler version shall prevail.

 

[Buck]

None of the following references list the word virii. They all uses viruses as the plural form of virus.

Cambridge Dictionaries Online
Macquarie Dictionary Online
Merriamwebster Online
Oxford English Dictionary Online

 

[NRG = mc²]

Hmm.. how come I always thought the plural was virii then?

 

[time]

Probably a word coined by Mageek.

 

[honold]

Good idea, e_dawg. I might do that. I use VNC on my machines here at home but didn't think of that.

I checked out Mozilla's mail client and it seems fairly straightforward. I've told him to ask the guy who's so happy to charge him hundrerds to reinstall Windows, to install Mozilla and get it over with.

I hope he'll manage to understand how it works... :roll:

Thanks everyone.

ie/oe updates with windowsupdate. mozilla doesn't. for this reason alone, i would recommend outlook express over mozilla for less-than-power users.

 

[blakerwry]

bah!

updating mozilla is painless. Simply install over the top and you're done... no loss of settings or mail.

 

[Handruin]

bah!

updating mozilla is painless. Simply install over the top and you're done... no loss of settings or mail.

I have to admit, it is painless to upgrade mosilla. I just updated mosilla yesterday to 1.2.1 and all it took was 3 minutes to install....nothing else.

 

[Clocker]

I'm an OE user but I'm not really advocating its use.

But...does Mozilla have a featuer where you can be notified when critical updates are available? That's great for my non-savvy relatives who need to be aware of the latest security updates.

Maybe it (moz) does...I don't know...

K

 

[blakerwry]

if you make the mozilla.org your homepage(assuming you're actually using the moz browser) it will tell you when you (1) have a version with a possible security flaw(pre 1.0 final) or (2) are not using the latest version

 

[e_dawg]

Is a webmail service is out of the question? Many of them have POP mail retrieval included and have automatic virus scanning of attachments. All you have to do is set everything so you are not on any contact lists, set the spam filters to maximum, and hope the porn mail will take a while to find you.

Besides the evil Hotmail, Yahoo mail is supposed to be okay, and so is Lycos' Mailcity. There was another recommended webmail service others have mentioned on here before, but I forgot the name.

 

[honold]

webmail sounds like a good idea as well

as far as updating, you guys are high.

- mozilla.com doesn't exist (which he would no doubt go to)

- even if he did locate the download page, he would be utterly confused by it (what is win32? what is talkback? etc)

 

[blakerwry]

lol, you might be right honold... but you could always send him the link directly via an email....

a good webmail site that works with an existing pop or imap account is
http://www.mail2web.com

 

[Mercutio]

myrealbox is run by Novell, has free POP and IMAP(!) access, better spam blocking than most and the distinct advantage of not being owned by Microsoft or a major target of spammers. Not only that, but the few times their service has been down on purpose, I've gotten messages indicating the duration of the outage, which I thought was considerate.

Mozilla mail works just fine. Too bad there really hasn't been any improvement to mail software since MS started working on Outlook.

 

[blakerwry]

you know, you could always run your own mail server like me

>8- )


I can give your dad a webmail account if he wishes... I guarantee nothing! :x

but I do make by-weekly backups of the server, the server runs on a dedicated machine that is not going anyware, and I have a cold spare incase the server dies.

 

[Tea]

But...does Mozilla have a featuer where you can be notified when critical updates are available?

You are missing the point here. First ask yourself does Mozilla need constant security updates?

Next, assume that you don't update Moz regularly. Assume that you do update Outbreak regularly. You are still a mile in front.

Hey, think of it like buying a car. What would you go for? A known, documented and notorious lemon with the worst safety record of any car made, but some recent bandaid patches and the reasonable hope that most of the as-yet undiscovered safety problems will be fixed under warranty ... sooner or later? (Hopefully before it kills you, but quite likely after.)

Or just buy a car that works in the first place?

 

[Fushigi]

Yahoo webmail is easy enough for my mother in law to use. 'nuff said.

- Fushigi

 

[Pradeep]

On a related topic, there is a Dec 4th patch for Outlook 2002 available from Office Update.

 

[Fushigi]

On a related topic, there is a Dec 4th patch for Outlook 2002 available from Office Update.

Thanks. I run Office XP on my laptop so it needs all the security help it can get. :-?

I check Windows Update weekly but don't check Office Update very often. Probably because it's silly to have to provide the Office CD whenever an update is applied.

There's also a Dec cumulative patch for IE 6 at the Windows update site.

- Fushigi

 

[honold]

You are missing the point here. First ask yourself does Mozilla need constant security updates?

virtually everything needs constant security/stability updates. mozilla has had 2 notable security issues in the last few months. openbsd has 5 pieces of errata for their latest release, 2 of which were from their own stuff.

just because something isn't microsoft doesn't mean it's safe.

 

[blakerwry]

mozilla mail?

 

[NRG = mc²]

Certainly everything has security holes, but the fact is that most worms etc are created to work on Outlook.

 

[NRG = mc²]

Yahoo webmail is easy enough for my mother in law to use. 'nuff said.

The point is, he doesn't want to change email addresses as it will be a hassle - all his business contacts have had this address for a few years now.

I think Mozilla and some spam filtering it provides will be adequate.

 

[Mercutio]

Can't he establish forwarding from his present id to a more satisfactory service?

 

[NRG = mc²]

No, but what would be the point? He would still get all the spam and viruses.