Windows 8: The Missing Manual

Chapter 16. Windows Live Mail

Email is a fast, cheap, convenient communication medium; these days, it’s almost embarrassing to admit you don’t have an email address. To spare you that humiliation, Microsoft offers you Windows Live Mail. It’s a renamed, revamped version of the program that, through the years, has been called Windows Mail, Windows Live Desktop Mail, and Outlook Express. It lets you receive and send email, subscribe to RSS feeds (Web-site update blurbs), and read newsgroups (Internet bulletin boards).

Now, Mail doesn’t exactly come with Windows 8; the lawyers saw to that. But it is part of the free, easy-to-download Windows Essentials suite (Windows Essentials), so you have very little excuse for not having a decent email program. Download it now.

(Of course, Windows 8 does come with a Mail app—it’s part of the starter set of TileWorld apps, and it’s described in Chapter 4. But that’s a quite basic mail app with very few options and features. Use the program described in this chapter if you want something a little fuller featured.)

Setting Up Windows Live Mail

To start up Mail for the first time, you can use either of the two standard Windows methods: Either click its icon on the Start screen, or go to the Start screen and type mail; click Windows Live Mail in the results list.

You might see a Microsoft Services Agreement screen filled with legalese (the most significant part of which is that Microsoft can send you updated versions of the software). Click Accept.

Now you’re ...