Summary: Microsoft has created a lot of confusion with how it names its mail products. Add the transition from MSN to Windows Live branding and it gets worse.
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What's the difference between Windows Mail, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Hotmail and MSN Hotmail? I keep getting them confused. And aren't some of them the same thing? |
You're confused? You and the rest of the world.
And no, with another case brilliant naming, all four of those things are all quite different.
I wish Microsoft would have learned from the mess that resulted from all the different names for something called messenger or the two unrelated email programs with the word Outlook in their name, but no. Here we are. Again.
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Windows Mail is a mail program that's included with Windows Vista. It replaces Outlook Express which came with previous versions of Windows, and it has a pretty similar feature set. My guess (and it's only a guess) is that it really is Outlook Express but with another name and a few tweaks for Vista. I know of no way to get Windows Mail other than by installing Vista.
Windows Live Mail is another, different, mail program. This one is still in Beta at this writing. Windows Live Mail confuses me for several reasons: it's also a replacement for Outlook Express, it's slightly more full featured than Windows Mail, and it's a free download that also works on Windows XP. Basically it does more than Windows Mail, above, so why does Windows Mail exist at all? I'm certainly at a loss to explain it. Anyway, as I said it is the replacement for Outlook Express. In fact, so much so that you can no longer even find an official download of Outlook Express (which was in the Internet Explorer download), but you can most certainly download Windows Live Mail.
Windows Live Hotmail is unrelated to anything I've talked about so far. Windows Live Hotmail is Microsoft's free web-based email service. Visit http://mail.live.com and what you're really visiting is Windows Live Hotmail. It's designed to be accessed via the web, meaning no program is used or needed, and you can access it from any machine on the internet using just a web browser. And I'd be remiss if I didn't point out my concerns about relying on free email services.
MSN Hotmail is nothing more, or less, than the previous version of Windows Live Hotmail. The confusion exists because the transition from MSN Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail was done slowly over time. That means that for a while both were available at the same time. The upgrade from MSN Hotmail to Windows Live Hotmail appears to be mandatory (there's no going back), and at this writing I believe it's complete.
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Those are the names. Unfortunately there are more issues beyond the naming that add to the confusion:
for a period, Windows Live Hotmail users could switch back to MSN Hotmail. This is no longer available.
Windows Live Mail (program) will allow you to download your Windows Live Hotmail (web mail). Windows Mail does not.
The premium (for pay) version of Windows Live Hotmail apparently has additional capabilities that the free version does not, including POP3/SMTP access, which would allow it to be downloaded into any mail program including Windows Mail.
Windows Live Messenger is a whole 'nother source of confusion.
It's frustrating. I know naming products is difficult, I've been there. But to purposely end up with such a confusing mess of product names ... well, it's really unfortunate and leads to a lot of confusion.
Related:
Ask Leo! - How do Outlook and Outlook Express relate?
Ask Leo! - How do I download my Windows Live Hotmail to my machine?
Article C3242 - December 19, 2007
how do you eliminate one or the other? shouldn't you just have one? i'm confused.
Posted by: Shelley at June 22, 2008 7:20 PMThank you so much. I was so confused. Windows Vista I think is a great program, but i didn't understand what Windows mail was.
Posted by: Sherri at July 8, 2008 9:35 AMHi, many thanks for your explanations. I particularly like the layout of your website: a model of clarity which is so hard to find elsewhere on the net.
Posted by: Graham at August 10, 2008 5:43 AMAnother difference between "Windows Live Mail" and "Windows Mail" is that most desktop search engines (Copernic, Exalead,..) know how to index the "Windows Mail" database, but cannot (or cannot yet..) index the "Windows Live Mail" database. If you are a frequent user of your desktop search capability, it makes a HUGE difference !
Posted by: Wist at October 4, 2008 9:32 AMI am using Windows Live Mail, problem is that when I receive any emails with images in them the images are coming in as an attachment and not in the body of the email. Is there anyway to change this? I want them in the body of the email and not as an attachment.
Posted by: Terri Baier at December 4, 2008 3:38 AMThanks
I have Windows Live Mail but I tried to send Works or Word files by Email. Recieved message that "Windows Mail is not your default mail.Would I like to make it my default." What do I do with my Windows Live Mail - the actual default?
Posted by: Gene Rheault at January 21, 2009 3:53 PMComment: Great article, it certainly explained (even if not corrected) a very confusing situation.
Posted by: Ivan at January 26, 2009 4:07 PMQuestion: I use Sympatico (Canadian Bell ISP) that uses MSN Hotmail or Windows Live Hotmail as the server. Since I can use POP mail access, I assume it is the "for fee" version. When away from home, I would like to download e-mail to my laptop (Vista Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail) and when I am back home, I would like to download same e-mail messages (or at least those I leave on the server) again into my XP Outlook. Is this possible? i.e. how do I tell the server that I want to download the already downloaded messages again?
i am using windows live mail in vista home premium.the problem is when i try to open a mail, security center warns me that REVOCATION CERTIFICATE IS NOT AVAILABLE DO YOU WANT TO PROCEED ?YES NO VIEW CERTIFICATE .what i must do to overcome this security message. any one please help !
Posted by: vimal kumar at February 11, 2009 1:44 AMI am using Windows Live Mail, problem is that when I receive any emails with images in them the images are coming in as an attachment and not in the body of the email. Is there anyway to change this? I want them in the body of the email and not as an attachment.
Posted by: Frederick Mew at February 27, 2009 11:53 PMThanks
I'm using Windows Mail which came pre installed with Vist Home. Recently I started to "lose2 barches of emails from mt inbox even though they had not been accessed. How do I recover them? My ISP says they were "delivered" and have been deleted from the ISP server
Regarding email attachment problems i experienced similar problems with attachments not being able to be opened ( i removed IE8 from my system to cure the problem!)
Regards
Posted by: tom brown at June 1, 2009 3:58 AM